#with a couple of younger kids in the mix which were the Hardest

[xfindingtrouble]

earlier when i was talking about wanting to reach out to others it was before i remembered i had a face painting event today. however, it was very successful & very fun but i might not be reaching out to anyone until tomorrow bcs fun or not 15 year olds are exhausting

[sokkas-honour]

For the Spotify writing could you do 50 for Korra

ms. california - korra x reader

pairing: korra x reader (gender neutral)

wc: 1.8k

notes/warnings: nothing here folks :)

i love your voice but hate the way, you talk of her consistently

you heard the boats coming in before you saw them, you heard the cheers erupting from a small crowd that had formed around the south pole’s dock, all flocking to catch a glimpse of their avatar coming home. while everyone’s excitement stemmed from seeing what was essentially a hero, you were just excited to finally see your oldest friend whom you hadn’t seen since she had left to go back to republic city after spending time healing with master katara in the south pole.

excitement cursed through your veins at the prospect of seeing your best friend after years of being separated as you ran to mix in with the crowd of natives welcoming one of their own home.

your heart swelled once you finally spotted her, standing proudly at the front of the ship, her mother placed right next to her as they both waved at the crowd. you noticed her newly cut hair that you had only seen in recent varrick industries movers, it looked even better on her in person.

you pushed your way through the crowd, excusing yourself as you bumped into several people, most of them unphased as they kept their gaze on the master of all four elements. you didn’t stop moving until you found yourself next to tonraq, a man who had served as almost a second father to you ever since you were a toddler. your father being one of the water bending masters that kept an eye on korra growing up, meaning you grew up alongside her at the white lotus compound.

“hey y/n, excited?” the chief asked as soon as he noticed your presence next to him, keeping his eyes on his daughter that was fast approaching.

“yes sir.” cheers got louder as the boat finally stopped, chief tonraq invited you to join him as he walked towards the boat, the guards he had enlisted letting you pass in order to join him.

when your eyes met here as she started coming down, you felt a smile grow on your features as you watched her face mirror yours, two old friends finally reuniting.

unexpectedly, korra picked up the pace and wrapped you in a hug as soon as she got near you, taking you by surprise.

“i missed you.” she exclaimed as you were returning it, happy to once again be in her arms. her large coat was soft to the touch but she smelled rather foreign, most likely due to the fact that was living in a bustling city. the sound of her voice was something you didn’t expect to miss so much but now that you finally heard it for the first time in months, you didn’t want to ever go without it again.

“missed you too.” you squeeze her slightly before you two finally broke apart, grins still on your faces as you both eyes each other up and down in order to see if there were any noticeable changes in each other’s appearance.

a little later during the day, after following korra revisit her home town you ended up having dinner at her childhood home. swapping not only childhood stories but also catching up on the things you had missed and that’s when when you found out about her.

one question was asked and suddenly, that’s all korra could talk about, all of her recent experiences being completely thrown out the window to talk about things her girlfriend, asami, had been doing, how her company was doing, some new invention she had come up with in the later hours of the night, a funny thing she had said, everything that was coming out of the avatar’s mouth had something to do with her.

you tried your hardest to engage in the conversation, finding your heart melt at how she talked about asami with so much love and amazement. her eyes sparkled in a way you had never seen them and you felt your heart sting a bit knowing that she’d never talk about you that way, that her eyes would never lit up at the sheer mention of your name. after a couple of minutes of enduring it, you retracted to your own thoughts, letting tonraq and senna interact with their daughter.

but every time you say her name, it honestly kills me

to help digest your food, and because korra insisted she wanted to, you both went on a walk after you finished eating some delicious homemade noodles. the cold didn’t both you as much as you were bundled under your coat, happy to find that outside the sky was clear, no signs of a snow storm in sight.

“sorry, i talked a lot back there.” she immediately said once she stepped out of her home to join you, excusing herself for being the center of attention at her own celebratory dinner.

“you realise that you haven’t been home in ages, and you’re the avatar, you’re the only one with any real stories to tell.” you joked as you started leading her in a random direction, knowing the whole area like the back of your hand meant that no matter where you two went, you wouldn’t get lost.

“come on, life here isn’t that boring.” she laughed lightly at your comment, following you closely so she wouldn’t get lost.

“you’d be surpised.” she rolled her eyes, not believing for one second that her best friend who always loved to live life to the fullest was admitting to living such a monotonous one.

“my dad told me you started teaching people waterbending which means you’re a real master now, that’s cool!” she nudged you lightly, causing a small smile to tug at your lips at the compliment on the full mastering of your skill, something that you were incredibly proud of.

“yeah, it’s not what i plan to do forever but it’s fun.” you shrugged your shoulders slightly before you two fell into a comfortable silence, the only sound between you being the trudging of your boots in the snow and the usual night sounds.

“but i could totally beat your ass, water or all elements, you don’t stand a chance.” you spoke up defiantly while simultaneously holding a joking tone in your words making her stop in her tracks.

“is that so? i’d love to see it.” she placed her hands on her hips as her eyes jokingly narrowed in your direction, thankfully you were still close enough to people’s houses to have some light letting you see her hilarious facial expression that looked identical to the one she used to wear when she was younger.

“how about tomorrow? we can even invite your parents so they see how weak the avatar actually is.” you teased as you suddenly felt the snow beneath your feet shift, causing you to fall backwards. quickly reacting, you brought snow up around the both of your arms to propel yourself forward, directing the snow directly at your friend as soon as your feet were flat on the ground.

korra brought her arms up to stop the snow from hitting her before letting it go limp and drop the ground.

“damnit, i would’ve loved to catch you off guard.” she whined, finally walking up to you after having let you walk by yourself a short distance.

“korra, you called me a master not two seconds ago, did you not think i’d be able to react to that?”

“listen, i didn’t think this through.” she rose her hands up in defence as you laughed, shaking your head at how much your friend could be idiotic when she wanted to.

“no kidding.” your comment earned a gust of air being bent in your face, causing your hood to fly backwards and your face going cold.

you narrowed your eyes at her as she simply stuck her tongue out childishly, causing you to laugh at how immature she was.

“i sure hope your city friends also get to deal with this side of you, would be a shame if they didn’t.” you managed to say once your laughter died down, being met with playfully offended avatar with her arms crossed as she observed you laughing with a quirked eyebrow.

“actually, asami says i’m pretty mature.” she stated matter of factly and you felt your happiness falter slightly at the mention of her girlfriend, wishing you could just go back to five minutes ago when you weren’t reminded of the fact that korra was living a completely different life to yours, one that didn’t involve spending it with you but with some supposed beautiful and genius inventor.

she's your girl, she's in all your pictures. california girl, i wish i was her

the following day, after tiring each other out sparring, you both headed back to her house as she mentionned wanting to show you some pictures she had of her life in republic city. you had barely seen certain staples of it like air temple island and the aang statue inside of books but never anything more.

“this is the spirit portal in the middle of the city.” you had seen numerous times the southern portal but there was something about the new one that made it stand out, while trying to figure it out, you spotted her, tall, long black hair, looking adoringly at korra who was talking to some officiel and you knew right then and there that was asami.

as korra showed you pictures of the pro bending arena, more in depth ones of air temple island, the spirit vines and in practically all of them you could see her, her whole presence seemed elegant, you could tell why korra had fallen for her.

when you're gone, she sleeps in your t-shirts

“shit i forgot my shirt.” korra mumbled as she frantically searched through the bag for her night shirt as you watched her from the other side of the room.

“don’t you have some here?” you suggested, looking around her room to maybe see one laying around but you knew that senna kept the room nice and tidy while her daughter was away.

“probably, hopefully asami is making use of it.” korra shrugged her shoulders before abandoning her bag on the ground, making her way to her crate where she kept all of her older clothes, grabbing the first one that came in between her fingers before facing you again, excited to have a sleepover like you always used to have.

“yeah, hopefully.” you mumbled, staring at the small fire that korra had lit for extra warmth, wishing that maybe in another life you weren’t just korra’s childhood friend, maybe you two actually got together, maybe if you had followed her to republic city instead of staying home afraid of being reprimanded by your parents for disobeying orders, maybe everything would’ve been different.

it hurts, i wish i was her, ms california.

general taglist: @biqherosix @draqondance @butterfly-skinnylegend @alteasmoon @staygoldsquatchling02 @sunnypluto

lok only taglist: @welovediaaxx @firelady-jay @callmecopper

[shepherds-of-haven]

Hiii Lena how are you? Okay now I have a FEW bebé-adjacent questions. Fist off: Anything you can tell us about Arainia and Blade’s kiddo?? I’m so soft for the thought of babies born into the Shepherds 🥺🥺(or just soft for beebies in general) Also is there like,,,any precedent set for pregnant Shepherds? Paid family leave 😅? I’m assuming they’d have to be upfront to their superior about it if they choose to carry to term and are probably put on desk duty? What about the other parent, assuming it’s a Shepherd-Are they like,,able to request assignments close by/shorter assignments later in the pregnancy? (for example I’m guessing all ROs would be pretty adamant about sticking nearby) In the original novels, were there separate setups in the compound for married shepherds/ ones with kids ? This is a LOT lololol 🙈

Hi kingdom, I’m doing great, and I hope you are, too! And yes, I’m all for bebé questions!!!

Anything you can tell us about Arainia and Blade’s kiddo??

Yes, their first child was a boy named Tamwyn, Tam for short! He was the spitting image of his father, but with Arainia’s eyes and Elvish ears, and he was a very serious little baby, peering around at the world with silent gravity befitting a Bronwyn. Arainia was kind of like “...is our baby okay” but it turned out that Uncle Chase and Uncle Trouble could always make him laugh! Thus, they were always on babysitting duty whenever both Arainia and Blade had to go out of town for a mission...

(This isn’t necessarily canon because it was written when I was like 15 maybe, which was before I knew Riel was going to blast off and commit treason and I’m pretty sure it’s an AU where Junoth didn’t die or I hadn’t done it yet RIP)

Anyway, as you can tell, it was a slightly chaotic but very loving infanthood for him! The official books stop when Tam’s about six months old, but I always had plans for him to grow up to become a strong Battle-Mage like his mother. He’d be a quiet, sensible, somewhat sensitive boy who had to dig deep to access his latent power in his youth. As a young adult, he would have been more confident and possibly headstrong--I feel like he would have had an intense teen rebellion phase--and eventually would grow into a powerful leader with a measured way of seeing the world, but still with a strong sense of empathy and emotional intelligence! He would have been very close to his uncles; would have had a teen crush on Kana, Halek and Wintry’s kid, that probably would have faded quickly; and I feel like he would have an academic side and would want to help Uncle Red with his magical research as a kind of intern, which would annoy Blade deeply, though of course he’d never say so!

There was also always the plan for them to have a second kid, a daughter four years younger than Tam named either Lyra or Amaya, who would have been more Ket like her dad and would have had an unusual mix of both arma and a little magic! She would have been more spunky and energetic than her brother and probably would look totally different from the rest of her dark-haired family due to the weird Mage genetics!

Also is there like,,,any precedent set for pregnant Shepherds? Paid family leave 😅? I’m assuming they’d have to be upfront to their superior about it if they choose to carry to term and are probably put on desk duty?

In the books, relationships were very strictly forbidden within the Shepherd’s Order, more so than they are in the game; it was a rule that had been carried out for hundreds of years, since the founding of the Order, so there wasn’t really a precedent set for both parents being Shepherds when one got pregnant! In the old days, you’d most likely be fired if you revealed that you got another Shepherd officer pregnant... 😅

Prior to Blade assuming command, there was paid family leave for a Shepherd officer to take time off and raise their children, but it was always expected that their spouse, partner, or what have you was from outside of the Order. Most were put on desk duty until closer to their due date, but some chose to take time off immediately upon discovering their pregnancy. Lunar Corps division officers (those who took on more urgent, specialized, or dangerous missions) were paid both a base salary as well as extra for most missions, which were graded according to risk. (The higher the grade, the more you’d get paid for taking that mission.) If you got pregnant and planned on having the child, you could take time off pretty much indefinitely and just keep the base salary, with bonuses thrown in if your superior liked you and thought you deserved it, of course. However, it was considered unethical to collect this money if you didn’t actually plan on resuming work with the Order after your baby was around three (though of course you could request to extend leave); so long as you actually came back to work afterwards, this was all legitimate.

However, things got messy once Shepherd couples got into the mix. Could both parties take leave, and for how long? Couples weren’t even allowed until Blade assumed command: he immediately changed the policy so that couples were allowed within the Order, but typically placed on different teams or missions, to avoid distractions during fights or work in the field. (This also applied to him and Arainia, though there were sometimes exceptions that had to be made.) He also allowed both parties paid leave with base salaries, but with the stipulation that one party should return to work after ten months to one year, unless they requested to extend that leave. 

Halek and Wintry’s child, Kana, was the first real “Shepherd baby”. Wintry chose to take the paid leave for the first year and a half of Kana’s life; they had also bought a restaurant as a side investment for whenever they retired, so there was income coming from that while Halek continued work as a Shepherd. And they were already on separate teams, so when she returned, it wasn’t that much of an issue!

What about the other parent, assuming it’s a Shepherd-Are they like,,able to request assignments close by/shorter assignments later in the pregnancy? (for example I’m guessing all ROs would be pretty adamant about sticking nearby)

If the Shepherds in question are Lunar Corps agents, it depends on their ranks! Lower-ranked agents were always placed on squads of seven and were assigned 80% of their cases and missions by higher-ups. But there were always missions placed on a roster that were “up for grabs” until a certain date, at which point they would be assigned to whatever team was available at that deadline. 20% of team missions could be one of those free missions, and if you were a higher-ranking agent no longer grouped into a team, you could also take on those missions of your own volition about 50% of the time. In short, you could choose about 50% of your own missions, because there were so many requests and petitions floating around all the time, so a Shepherd parent could just choose the missions that were close to home and pass on the ones that weren’t.

For the missions that they couldn’t choose and were assigned, you could always put in an unofficial request to your superior; they would usually do their best to accommodate you, but there were simply some times where there wasn’t any choice, especially if you had a specialized position that few others could replace. That duty comes with being a Shepherd, and I imagine it would be the same in the game! You can make the request and people will try their hardest to accommodate, but it's not a guarantee and if you can't meet the demands of the job, you'll probably be moved over to Solar Corps, which handles things like local patrols.

In the original novels, were there separate setups in the compound for married shepherds/ ones with kids ?

The Shepherds’ Tower in the books was actually more like a workplace and police precinct, so there were actually no living quarters or dormitories there! It was more like a skyscraper, and Shepherd officers lived in their own personal apartments or occasionally shared houses in Haven. There were some buildings that the Order rented out entirely just for Shepherd officers to live in, but these were few and far between.

In the books, most of the protagonists lived in small apartments in the Market Quarter; Blade and Arainia lived on the same floor of their apartment and the other team members lived close by or even on the same street; there was an ill-fated move where all seven (ten?) of them shared a big house in Whitestone (which in the books wasn’t just for aristocrats, it was just a nicer neighborhood) for like a year for some reason; and then Blade and Arainia lived in a house in the Market Quarter (I even remember their address, 771 Bomba Street) after they got married! 

Thanks for your questions, I had fun answering them! 🤗

[nomoregoldfish]

I Promised You The Moon rant

Just binged it and this was from the episode by episode reaction/discussion with my partner in crime @glossyboy.

First of all, Oab stole the show, singlehandedly, which he's not supposed to. I don't think anyone expected it including himself. In the very top post when I searched his name on tumblr, he said this lol

But the truth is he played one hell of "villain" that required a very nuanced performance and he delivered it in a believable and graceful manner. Jai became the catalyst of the entire season and his rather complicated relationship with Teh was the highlight of part 2.

EP 1

From the very beginning it's clear that part 2 is very much a Teh's story rather than a balanced story about two young people's journey as a couple in the next chapter of their lives. It makes me uncomfortable they made Oh-aew clingy and pessimistic without giving him any character development.

The best part is probably the opening scene where they went paper-rock-scissors to decide who's gonna buy condoms. It felt authentic, the expectation, the hesitation, the mischievous act, all fits their characters well. Other times ep 1 was more like two adult kids playing house, literally in an empty giant ass upper middle class apartment.

EP 2

It's great that they poked the femininity vs. masculinity issue through Oh-aew, but stopped right there at the surface. Missed a perfect opportunity to go head-to-head with the controversial topic, start a debate, crush the stigma of femininity, bring something new, be a real game changer of the BL genre, and most importantly give Oh-aew some concrete character development. Part 1 showed us a gay character that's very comfortable with his sexuality and femininity, that's almost revolutionary in Asia, not as a comic relief but a leading role. Oh-aew questioned his own sexual identity once in that bra wearing scene, it's straight out of comfort zone, BOLD, and transgressive. So I expected more from part 2.

That's it? And they're already sophomores? Can't believe Oh-aew's character has been marginalized like this. It's pathetic.

But I love the brutally honest conversation at the end where Teh vented his rage and despair regarding his frustration of acting. He was acting like a dick because he's disappointed, and scared. Teh again was not afraid of showing vulnerability, making the reconciliation very realistic and touching.

EP 3

Dare I say I freaking love ep 3! The unresolved (partially sexual, but not entirely) tension between Teh and Jai was over the roof! And the built-up to their kiss was very authentic, which paled Teh and Oh-aew's much sidelined storyline, including the long anticipated sex scene (still can't believe it happened right after Jai explicitly instructed Teh to do it after the two spent a whole night bonding, like wow! Totally TRANSGRESSIVE and to some extent, kinky.) Teh looked up to the senior, idolized him, wanted to be good for him and make him proud, thirsted for the validation from him, which was mixed with affections. The workshop diary was a brilliant idea to let them open up to each other and eventually bring them close. This was what a meaningful arc of a story looked like. By contrast, there isn't a single moment between Oh-aew and Teh in part 2 that made me go "Damn it's soooooo hot!"

I know Jai/Teh wasn't the endgame but I appreciate the storyline so much. It's a very bold move considering it broke the over-glorified "one true love in one's life" fantasy of its target audience, mostly young cis women. The popular narrative of "you can only love one person through your life/one true love" in romance fictions/chick flicks was totally smashed. And it wasn't written just to stir up things between Teh and Oh-aew, it wasn't a silly fling. Instead, it's meaningful, complicated, natural, and realistic, delivered by nuanced and excellent acting from two young actors. It's hilarious that fans hate Jai with a passion and call him names.

And big news, Jai is bi?! Bravo! He's radiating bi vibes since his first appearance.

I kind of gave up at this point, the season wouldn't do Oh-aew any justice. Like my partner in crime pointed out, the costume design literally threw some "incongruous female fashion pieces" on Oh-aew, made him dye his hair red, without...making any actual point of his personality or his character development. Wardrobe was supposed to make a point in storytelling. Yes, PP wearing pink is cute, and? There's nothing else for Oh-aew. Unfortunately he's reduced to this sulky, crying, and wronged partner in a failing relationship.

EP 4

Oab again was killing it. The tension between Jai and Teh...from the rehearsal in front of Oh-aew to the dressing room pep talk, was incredibly intense and hot AF.

Was it a manipulative relationship after all? Oab was so good at conveying a character with many faces. Jai's a mentor to Teh, also a good friend, their relationship was genuine. He's also ambitious with his own goals, he used, challenged, provoked Teh in a way that benefited them both. It made sense the title of part 2, I Promised You The Moon, was from Jai's script. He promised Teh what the junior wanted the most, a bright future in acting. Teh's unconventional and unspoken feelings for Jai was the best part of the entire season in terms of creative writing, it's complicated, fragile, delicate and completely heartbreaking.

The after talk in the hallway was so well-written. It's funny (Teh joking about playwrights always write about their EXs is gold), intimate yet meticulously controlled, no one lashed out or wept. Both knew what they signed up for and Jai particularly made it clear about his motive and the purpose of the "special workshop" beforehand (or right away.) Yet it's no one's fault that Teh got carried away. He's younger, he's immature, he's more into it, it's totally natural. It's so romantic when Teh's singing karaoke in the bar with Oh-aew, yet he couldn't help but desperately staring at Jai on the floor, knowing he and the man who just turned him down were never gonna happen, they were done, but he's still madly attracted to him and his talent. He fancied Jai, at least the idea of Jai, a playwright, a director, someone knew him better than himself. That hurt beautifully.

EP 5

Teh/Oh-aew endgame at this point was pretty meaningless. Oh-aew as a leading character never got any solid character development over a span of four years. What happened between Jai and Teh wasn't just "cheating", though they surely made it look that way, like Teh's empty promise of "I won't see him again after the show ends". No matter how Oh-aew and Teh eventually reconciled, there's no emotional connection, no sparkle anymore between the couple.

But I knew for a fact they had to. Otherwise it's too much of a risk financially for the series. The creators had to take the easy way out like most traditional romances—one of the most contrived and formulaic trope where the male leading character made a mistake (usually cheating) and realized he's wrong, he deeply hurt the female leading character (Oh-aew was merely a girl substitute in part 2), then he completely changed for hell knew what reasons, started doing every nicest thing in the world to try to "win" the female character back. It has been feeding the emotionally-deprived cis female readers/audience who are frustrated with heterosexual relationship irl for decades. The formula that made romance outsell other genres of fictions combined in the 60s and 70s still sells today, under the name of boys' love. It's pathetic to see Oh-aew confess to Bas that he always "lost" to Teh. Love shouldn't be some kind of game or competition, there isn't winner or loser in love. Love is spontaneous. Oh-aew didn't lose because Teh developed feelings for someone else, and he didn't win when Teh begged him for reconciliation. People change, people move on.

And as predicted, they went for it. The ending was so absurd and tedious.

Overall, Jai's probably the hardest villain to play, he needed to be REALLY GOOD to be "the bad guy", to make his role conceivable. Oab absolutely nailed it with his talent and experience. He's not even my type or extremely good looking yet I'm 100% SOLD. I immediately re-watched the scene of him kissing Teh back hungrily at the end of ep 3 like I used to re-watch Teh/Oh-aew's steamy make out session at the end of episode 3 part 1. Coincidence?

I like some parts of both seasons for the same reason, each challenged and tried to break some outdated/contrived narratives in the BL genre. Part 1 took on the sexuality taboo by showing two same sex characters sexually attracted to each other, no more "I'm not into boys, I just happened to fall for someone of the same gender" or "pure love" bullshit. By staying true to the characters' sexuality and actually showing it with explicit, intense (and beautifully shot) scenes, the gay characters were normalized. They weren't just pure and innocent, no one was. And it created two of most unconventional gay characters in Asian pop culture, Oh-aew, a beautiful boy who's very comfortable with his own sexuality and femininity, not passive at all, taking initiative to pursue what he wanted; and Teh, a sensitive, caring and vulnerable boy who cried a lot, he's confused but also sweet and brave.

Part 2 tackled the "You can only love one person through your life" trope with a very nuanced story of "cheating". Yet neither carried out what they started. Part 1 fell short of a revolutionary piece that stayed true to "adolescent sexual turmoil", dismissing bisexuality and becoming a typical unrealistic BL fantasy in the end. And Part 2, ugh, forced a "happy ending" that almost no one digs. I understand it's extremely difficult and risky to disrupt the established norms of a genre. But sometimes being transgressive and progressive could be the same thing. A story, an artwork, has to challenge something in order to create something new and compelling.

[soradragon]

Prank full of love

Dwalin here! Woooo!! changed my style a bit to fit with the type of genre this is, this is a comedy x reader fic. I’m very proud.

Also, thank you my sweet @deepestfirefun​ for helping me out! And Thank you my beta reader for helping me out! I love you!

Warnings: cursing, shirtless dwarf (wink wonk) and fluff with a sprinkle of angst

Dwalin x F! reader,  mentions of bagginshield

Check out my main masterlist if you liked what you read and wanna read more!

If you want to be tagged in the upcoming fics don’t be afraid to ask me! ^^

Please, if you liked the story leave a little comment to let me know you liked it!

Anyway, enjoy^^

~~~~~~

"You..!"

A deep, threatening and rough voice bounced against the walls of the passages. 

Not much further ahead was a woman, pushing a man of what looked like a high status to the side. She was running like a madwoman, fleeing from what people would think; the devil. 

That woman is you. Yes you; surprising, isn't it? 

What did you do to get yourself ending up in this peculiar predicament, you probably wonder?

Well then, no need to look further nor to scroll down to nitpick every sentence in this story to make even the slightest sense of what's going on in this world of chaos. It shall all be explained right here and now! 

If you didn't care nor wonder what, how, and why this all happened, then too bad! You have no power over this story! Haha, take that!

Ahem, anyway...It all happened at a feast around midnight before all this chaos came to be.

*(*)*(*)*

Fili and Kili dragged you with them. The blonde prince led the way as the younger brother pulled you with them.

They had been spouting stuff about "the greatest idea ever." and "going in the history books for being the legendary mischief-makers." Or something like that. You didn't really listen, like at all, only perking up and paying a biiit more attention when they mentioned 'you' and 'food.'

Were you getting an all-you-can-eat-buffet?

Aww, such sweethearts! They shouldn't have.

Weelll, you did deserve it, after all. Going along on this journey and defeating a dragon is not an easy feat. They should make you an entire statue while they're at it! 

Yes, one right next to the entrance so all visitors and passers-by could see you and know of your magnificent and heroic deeds.

You mentally patted yourself on the back. The look on your face was a mix of smugness and pride.

But you were forgetting one small itty bitty detail (or two) in your only sliiightly intoxicated state:

You weren't the sole hero who slew the dragon. You already got your fair share of the reward: a high status in the kingdom - a place in the High Court of the company who went on that dragon-slaying quest - and a luxurious comfy home included. And not to forget the gold you were promised. Thorin also offered work in a high place in the kingdom like a royal scholar or something, but you gracefully declined. You liked working in the toy shop with Bofur and Bifur - so...no statue for you.

But you didn't remember that.

You snapped out of your daydreams when Fili softly helped you to sit down on your bed. 

How did you get here in the first place?

"Are you alright Y/N?"

Fili or Kili, you don't know which one as they looked the same to you at the moment, wiggling in front of you with their two clones.

When did they become a quadruplet?

"Y/N?"

Oh yeah, you still needed to answer them. 

"...'M fiiinee."

You managed to slur out with difficulty, sleepiness slowly taking over. The brain cells were already going to bed, leaving behind a heavily drunken brain to operate the whole system.

What could go wrong, am I right?

...A lot.

*(*)*(*)*

"Ugh, stupid hangover..."

You moaned, resting your chin on the edge of the bucket pathetically.

You felt like you died and came back to life again, moaning over a bucket you desperately tried not to look into, for you knew the meal you had yesterday would not be a pretty sight.

At least you could tell what was up and down...yay for you...

You didn’t forget that you had somehow convinced Fili and Kili you were really fine and totally not wasted. How was beyond you, and you were not in the mood to figure it out.

Maybe they were also drunk or just took advantage of your pickled state. Yeah, they would do that to guilt-trip you into going along with their prank. They knew you never break a promise, even if you made it in your totally half-sober state. They were too cunning for their own and others’ - mostly others’ - good.

Anyway, somehow (not surprisingly) without knowing what you were getting into, you had nodded along with everything they had said. 

You vaguely remember Kili or Fili tucking you in and saying goodnight. 

Note to self: Never try to win against Bofur - or any dwarf for that matter - in a drinking match ever again.

You chastised yourself while staggering towards your wardrobe.  How late would Fili or Kili pick you up to set his prank in motion? You didn’t even care which one it was - you hated them both at the moment...Okay, who are you kidding; you would do the same thing again in a heartbeat for either of them. And of course, they would give poor little you the hardest and most dangerous job to fulfil... Great. Just peachy.

Sigh.

Let's get this whole shenanigan over with, dammit. They’d better sing tales and praises about you once this is over. 

Not long after you put some clothes on, The two brothers barged into your chamber, loud and boisterous as ever. How they both could be so lively in the morning (with probably a hangover too) was beyond you.

"...Stupid dwarf genes..."

You mumbled to yourself as you let the two princes drag you to the training hall with their arms hooked around yours on either side. 

You felt dread pool inside your stomach as you got closer to the training hall. 

Now, normally you loved the training hall. After all, it was the front row seat to a heavenly sight of young warriors and their amazing muscles being put to use in a workout. Not to forget there was one dwarf in particular who you just loved to watch while he flexed his muscles by throwing other dwarves around.

But right now, you feared it with a burning passion, for that place was undoubtedly the place where you would meet your inevitable doom.

"Don't worry dear Y/N, it's gonna be fun!"

Kili spoke up happily, seeming to notice your unease Oh, how you would love to give him the big finger. But knowing Kili, he would drop you for the fun of it and make a whole drama show out of it, gasping and acting like a stereotypical blonde rich girl, one who just overheard the most scandalous gossip about herself. You cursed yourself for showing Kili how to be a true drama queen. (Prince, in his case, but you get the point.) The traitor uses all those tricks against you every chance he gets. You could just kick yourself for being so stupid to show him the ropes. What's worse is that if you would put Kili in a dress he would be the definition of a diva! How he does it? 

No one knows!

Why couldn't you just say no and walk away?

"Because you're too nice to leave your favourite dwarves hanging, Y/N. You promised you would help." Kili said. Technically, your autopilot did, not you. Unfortunately for you, Kili was right. You wouldn't leave him hanging. 

You glared at Kili and the stupid cheeky grin he gave you. You would have rolled your eyes at him if that wouldn't hurt as much as it did, so you decided to roll your eyes mentally instead.

Wait...did you just say that out loud?

"Yes, yes you did."

"Fu-"

*(*)*(*)*

After what seemed like ages Fili and Kili had finally managed to drag your miserable self to the big wooden doors of the training hall. You had given up the struggle after the longest ten minutes of your life, deciding to formulate a master escape plan before you would reach the training halls. Unfortunately for you, it was too late. You threw your carefully thought-out plan down the drain when Kili accidentally slammed the door against the wall too loud when he kicked it open with his boot.

Still having his arm looped around your's, mind you.

Everyone and everything quieted down for just a moment. Heads turned towards the entrance where they were all, no doubt about it, greeted with a comical sight. 

Fili and Kili, obnoxious as always and wicked smiles on their faces (and everyone who even remotely knew the young princes, grasped that the two were up to no good.) 

dragged a very anxious looking you with them. One would guess you were about to be sacrificed as a dragon's dinner.  Which you were, in your opinion.

"Come on Y/N,  time to teach you how to disarm opponents," Fili said, leading the way to a part of the area where a couple of young dwarves were thrown on the ground by one dwarf in particular, one you came to recognise as the hottest and grumpiest dwarf in all of Grump Town. And oh boy, you were not ready to get destroyed by him, and you showed it, too, pulling and protesting and cursing at everything that lived.

How you wished you could tell people that you managed to free yourself from the boy's grasp and run for the hills. 

Sadly, that wish didn't come true; God hated you or something, for Fili and Kili  - those little rascals - managed to push you right into Dwalin. 

You didn't know if Dwalin catching you was a blessing or a curse. What you did know, however, was that you most definitely were blushing, if your burning cheeks were anything to go off of.

Dwalin was shirtless... His strong, hairy arms encircled your waist delicately, and you were practically pressed against his chest...

Against his strong, warm and bushy dwarven chest.

The scent of sweat, smoke and a vague hint of cookie dough entered your nose, and it strangely made you feel at home.

You were a goner, yep completely gone, nobody's home. Come back later or leave a message after the beep for Y/N dot exe has stopped working and took a vacation to cloud nine.

Sadly, your cloud nine had been sucked away too quickly by the dwarf himself who put you there in the first place. 

Dwalin, being the grump that he is, grunted at you and pushed you back on your feet as if you had burned him! 

"Rude much," you grumbled once you managed to keep your balance, dusting yourself off.

Dwalin (the ass) only grunted in return. Him and his damn grunts. 

You ain't special enough for him to form a full sentence for you, now?

Fine, if he was gonna play it that way then, you were gonna give it to him back tenfold.

Screw consequences, the dick deserved this. You were gonna go all out. 

You turned around and stuck your tongue out like a real child woman.

Fili and Kili started to giggle behind you, getting quiet real quick when they saw Dwalin glaring daggers at them. 

You marched towards the two princes, whispering four words as you moved past them. 

"Let's do this shit." 

The boys definitely heard you, for their grins turned wicked. 

One glance and you knew what was about to come. If being the two princes’ guinea pig for pranks with poor Bilbo the entire journey taught you anything, it would be to recognize the twinkle in their eyes. 

It spoke in volumes louder than any dragon could roar; chaos was about to unfold, both in their brains (as they looked each other in the eye) and soon, in reality. You looked slightly over your shoulder. 

Yeah, they were scheming alright, communicating with that brotherly bond they share or something. 

Watch out Dwalin:

This. Is. War.

*(*)*(*)*

ShitshitshitshitSHIT!

Oh, how you came to regret tripping Dwalin up. In your defence, it wasn't your fault that he couldn't take his dark eyes off of you when you pulled your shirt off because the heat was getting too hot to handle. 

Wink wonk.

Hey, at least you wore a white undershirt. One which clung to your breasts tightly. Yeah, that'll give him something to look at.

Anyway! 

It wasn't your fault, either, when Dwalin marched towards you with purpose in his steps when you bent over to grab a dagger off the ground, showing him your assets in the process.

It was his fault, really! He should've noticed that Fili and Kili were waiting for him to stand on the grey X. And now you were running for your life with a very, very angry dwarf (who was covered in white glue and colourful feathers) on your heels. Thanks for everything, Kili. Thanks for shrieking out, "Y/N planned it!" The moment Dwalin glared at them...

The snitch.

You pushed dwarves to the side as you ran for your life, screaming sorry as you went, because you are a polite gentlelady. Dwarves watched you go with wide eyes, confused as heck as Dwalin stormed past them not long after.

Most of the time, you were glad they made the hallways mainly one straight line, but now? You cursed its existence and its creator.

There was unquestionably no doubt about it that Dwalin would catch up. Curse you and your hate of exercise.

You should have taken Gloin's offer of jogging with him when you had the chance, but Bombur's pastries were too tempting to pass up on at the time.

And now here you were, fleeing like the devil was behind you, with burning lungs and protesting legs. You were afraid to glance back; you could almost feel your pursuer’s breath go down your neck. You silently prayed to all the deities above and beneath you to help you out, and it seemed one took pity on your little mortal soul. For the moment you finished your prayer, you were rewarded with two things: two dwarves carrying barrels, and a small corridor you almost missed if it hadn't been for someone came out of said corridor. 

You took the opportunity without hesitation and slammed against the two unexpecting dwarves, who dropped the barrels in surprise. You managed to slip past them before the barrels hit the ground - like freaking Indiana Jones - skidding through the corridor with a sharp turn. 

Without a second wasted, you pressed yourself against the wall like a ninja on a mission and held your breath. This was the moment of truth. There were two possibilities: either Dwalin wasn't fooled by the stunt, or he runs right by you. You prayed for the latter.

Lo and behold, for your prayers have been answered again! The deities really loved you at this moment, or just had lots of pity for you.

Dwalin ran past the corridor.

You let out the biggest sigh of relief in your life Patting yourself on the back, you turned around with a smile... Only to come face to face with the king of the mountain. The smug-ass had a knowing smirk on his face.

Shitpopcicles...

"Why are you so out of breath Y/N? You look as if a warg was on your heels." the smirk faltered as Thorin rubbed at his chin as if he were thinking. 

The grin returned tenfold. "Is a certain dwarf chasing you, perhaps...?" His voice was teasing; he dang well knew why.

Oh, how you wished you could smack that smirk off his face, but sadly that was not a good idea. The bugger knows about your crush on Dwalin and teases you often. 

He found out about it during the journey and he had always put you and Dwalin on watch together. 

He shipped it, you just knew he did.

You pointed a threatening finger towards him. "Watch out, boy." You were close enough to Thorin to be the only one allowed to do something like this.

"Or this little lady won't hesitate to tell the whole damn mountain and a certain someone that you have a crush on a certain hobbit."

His face stayed the same - stoic and not moving - but you saw it at his softly reddening cheeks that your suspicions had been right. You grinned victoriously at Thorin, who stood there without uttering a word. Serves him right! Now you had blackmail. Internally, you were cackling evilly.

Your body froze while Thorin opened his mouth to speak. You felt as if Hell had just frozen over for that's when you heard it:

"You...!"

It sounded like thunder rumbling. Deep, rough and threatening. You would have totally been turned on if you weren't scared for your life. 

Dwarfzilla was coming...

Without noticing it, you pushed Thorin to the side and ran like a madwoman. This is how it all happened. Now you're all caught up, so let's continue.

Fili and Kili had better sing tales about you after this.

You turned many corners and hallways, zooming past Dwarves who flushed themselves against the narrow walls in haste as you ran past them.

Some of them called out to you, but you couldn't hear what they said; Being chased doesn't really give you the time to stop and listen to what they had to say, now does it?

At one point, you began to notice the path becoming disproportionate and rough. Stones stuck out of the floor and walls. You tripped over a couple of those, those little buggers. Soon, it was as if you weren't in a hallway anymore, but in a cave instead.

Dwalin had been calling out to you after a while of running through the cave-like hallway. But the thing was, he didn't sound angry anymore. 

He sounded worried, desperate even, which was very much out of character for Dwalin, to be honest...

Sadly, you hadn't had the time to realize why Dwalin acted the way he did before you dropped down a hole in the floor with a yelp. At least you found out why he was so concerned.

What a great day...

*(*)*(*)*

A short cry reverberated throughout the chamber, and a high pitched voice followed after.

"Could you be more gentle!?"

You glared at Dwalin, who like always, grunted his replies instead of talking like a normal Dwarf-being!

Though he did what you asked and rubbed the ointment on your bruises more gently, which felt like heaven on your sore skin...

You felt absolutely stupid, sitting on a wooden bench with Dwalin treating your bruises and wounds. (Oin was too busy to do it himself so he shoved ointment in Dwalin's hand. The other was holding you at that moment, for Dwalin wouldn't allow you to walk yourself. Oin said that Dwalin should do it before promptly leaving.) Dwalin had to pull you out of the hole, though he spoke more words than he had said to you this entire day. You counted that as a victory.

You still felt your heart flutter every time you thought about it: He had been extremely gentle, lifting you out of the hole with both his arms. Cradling you to his chest while muttering in dwarvish. Checking all over your body before caressing the back of your head and pressing it against his shoulder as he held you close. This time, you understood his mumbles: "Thank Mahal, yer safe," his voice was so quiet, wavering with raw emotion;

"never do anything like that ever again, ya hear me."

Dwalin was still shirtless and covered in glue and feathers during the entire ordeal.

Your heart had skipped multiple beats right then and there, cheeks flushed red. You had been trying to process those words the entire way to Oin. Still trying to figure out the meaning behind the words he uttered with such intensity.                

You were brought out of your trance by Dwalin tapping on your shoulder, you looked over to see him staring at you, "Lift yer left foot."

You did as he asked, lifting your foot. Dwalin grasped it gently in one hand as he removed the boot delicately. If this was in a different situation, it would have been very intimate. No, wait, scratch that; it's intimate even now, which was not good for your heart, which was doing summersaults inside your chest. Yep, you were screwed...

So badly, and heavenly screwed. 

Yet you couldn't find it in yourself to really mind.

Once Dwalin removed the boot and sock, he started to massage your foot with ointment, muttering to himself. "Why did ya let yerself be dragged in the princes' pranks."

It wasn't a question, but you answered anyway, "Those princes made me promise to help them out when I was drunk- don't look at me like that Dwalin! You know I never break promises, even if I made them while I was drunk."

He averted his eyes, stilling his ministrations slightly. "Ya need to learn to say no."

His voice was almost too soft to hear, but you did.

You huffed in return, "I'm getting better at it though! I said no to Fleder-Fledder something when he tried to get me to marry him!"

Dwalin chuckled, "Aye ya did. Ya kicked him good in the nuts."

"Well, he deserved it, I didn't even know him and wouldn't take no for an answer, so I had to make it clear." 

You grinned at Dwalin as he shook his head, a smirk on his face.

Your eyes turned soft, remembering how Dwalin had positioned himself between the man and you when the man tried to grab you by the neck. Your hero had glared at the man fiercely, threatening to gut him with his axe if he didn't take the hint and shove off.

The man had pissed himself before he had sprinted off, too scared to utter a single word.

You had hugged Dwalin to thank him and since then, he only acknowledged you with grunts... That was the day before the feast.

Balin had said not to take it personally, that Dwalin needed time to sort himself out. But damn was it hard to not take it to heart.

"Why did you do it?"

The dam broke, spilling your most inner thoughts. Fumbling with your fingers, you stared at the ground, missing the confused look on Dwalin's face. "What?"

"Why did you ignore me after I hugged you?"

You were not gonna beat around the bush with this one. You made your bed, and now you need to lie in it.

"You didn't acknowledge me for three days. Balin said to give you space, so I did. But damnit Dwalin, you ignored me for three days! Why?"

You didn't mean for your voice to crack when you looked him in the eyes. You didn't mean for the tear to slip past. Dwalin's eyes widened in return. Very slightly, but you noticed. He averted his gaze to the ground for a second, placing your foot down gently and then looked up into your eyes. 

"I...I got confused," he began, eyes full with emotions, some you couldn't even place. "I got confused...Emotions which I thought I had buried deep down, long ago resurfaced..." you blinked. Were his eyes getting glassy? 

"They resurfaced tenfold. I didn't know what to do or think… I didn't think," he grabbed your hand in his delicately, tracing the skin with his thumb, never taking his eyes off you even once. "I threw up my walls in a panic, I shouldn't have, but I did..." he took in a deep breath. "Hurting those dear to me." Dwalin pressed his lips against your hand, it was gentle and soft. Butterflies fluttered inside your stomach.

"Y/N, lass, I truly regret putting ya through such pain. Could you forgive this fool of a dwarf?" He whispered, staring at you with pleading eyes.

You did what everyone would do in this situation.

You hit him on the head and yelled, "you idiot!!" and slapped against his chest multiple times. "I thought you hated me...!" Dwalin grabbed you by the waist and raised you into the air without much problem. He stared into your eyes with passion as he uttered one word.

"Never."

The two of you were only a small length apart. Without hesitating, you closed the distance, pressing your lips against his. He passionately returned the kiss, both of you closing your eyes as you relished the feeling of each other.

Yeah, you were on cloud nine alright. The touch of Dwalin's hands holding you so gently set your skin aflame. You could get used to this.

Parting to gasp for air, you glanced at Dwalin's face. Eyes lidded, and mouth slightly open. You smirked then, leaning in, you brushed your lips lightly against his.

He groaned in return. 

"Yer doing things to me, lass," he pressed his head against yours, his eyes soft as he looked at you. "Be mine?"

You only nodded, leaning in for another kiss to seal the promise.

Yeah, today was a great day...

~~~~~

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[everykindofnerd13]

The Adventures of Hayato Kamitani and his Life with the Kashimas

After highschool, Hayato and Ryuuichi moved in together in an apartment in their hometown. Ryuuichi was going to college for education so he could hopefully be a primary school teacher, and Hayato was going to school for a chemistry major, but he was actually on a scholarship for Baseball, which Ryuuichi couldn’t be more proud of him for. Unsurprisingly, Kotaro has been moved into the apartment with them as well.

And while he may only be 7 at the time, once he’s 9 at least he’ll want his own room, so Kotaro stops sleeping with Ryuuichi every night, in favor of staying in his own bed in the apartment. This meant that there was a special opening in Ryuuichi’s bed that Hayato was all too happy to take. There were nights that Kotaro would wander into the room, looking frantic, and Hayato would have to scoot away from Ryuuichi to allow the still surprisingly small child to snuggle between them.

It reminded Hayato of their first year dating, back in highschool. Kotaro was still only 4 years old and he still slept in the same bed as Ryuuichi. Hayato had stayed the night a couple of times, and had of course been forced to let his annoying little brother tag along, the toddlers always ended up tucked between Ryuuichi and himself, sleeping like, well, babies, while the teenagers smiled cheerily at eachother over their heads.

“Kotaro, can you go get Ryuu please?” He asked quietly one evening. Kotaro was sitting on the kitchen counter watching Hayato stir a pot of ramen. He looked up at the request and nodded dutifully, just like he would have when he was three.

“Thank you Ko!” He exclaimed after him then turned back to the pot.

Not even five minutes later Kotaro was hopping back up on the counter and Hayato felt his arm being pushed up as Ryuuichi wormed in between he and the stove to look at the pot of ramen.

“Well hello,” Hayato grunted, resting his chin on Ryuuichi’s head. Ryuu hummed and leaned back while Kotaro leaned over to put his head on Hayato’s shoulder. He chuckled, deciding to cherish these few years that Kotaro would join their cuddly moments rather than scrunch up his nose and make a face the way Taka did.

“Your mom called,” Ryuu muttered, pulling his two favorite quiet boys to attention. He almost laughed when they gave him practically the same look.

“Yeah, she was wondering if we could take Taka this weekend, apparently she made plans and forgot that you wouldn’t just be there, again.” Hayato groaned at the prospect of keeping his brother at his apartment for a weekend but when he saw the look in Kotaro’s eyes he felt his resolve practically disappear.

“Fine...” Hayato grumbled and Ryuuichi laughed.

“That’s good, because I’d already accepted,” Hayato glared at the pot of ramen but figures he couldn’t very well argue, considering he’d just accepted.

“You shouldnt make decisions without talking to Haya-nii, Nii-Chan,” Kotaro pointed out from next to his brother and (practically) brother in law. Both Hayato and Ryuuichi looked surprised at his words of wisdom but Ryuu actually looked down at his shirt in thought, brows pulled together in that cute way he always had when he was thinking particularly hard. He looked up apologetically at Hayato after a few seconds.

“He’s right, sorry Hayato,” Hayato only shook his head and kissed Ryuuichi’s forehead.

“It’s fine Ryuu, you didn’t do anything terrible,” Hayato conceded, “But I think it’s a good thing that Kotaro is so observant, otherwise I’d probably just let you push me around,” Ryuuichi laughed , pulling a similar chuckle out of Hayato’s lips. They bantered together for only a few minutes more before sitting down at the table to eat the now finished Ramen.

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

Ryuuichi wasn’t home when Hayato heard the apartment door open and close, and the telltale sound of Kotaro trudging to his room. This wouldn’t be so strange if Kotaro didn’t usually come to Hayato to ask for a snack, and then sat on the couch to eat it, not bothering Hayato for about thirty minutes before he would come in and ask for help on homework.

Hayato stood cautiously and walked quietly to the now 10 year old’s bedroom. It was decorated with pandas and ladybugs mostly, as those were his favorite things. There was nothing wrong with the childish room other than the clearly distressed child sitting in the middle of his bed, knees pulled to his chest as he choked back sobs that were racking his body. Hayato’s heart clenched seeing Kotaro like that, he rarely ever saw him cry, let alone son, and that was usually when Ryuuichi was in some kind of danger or he had been scolded.

“Kota?” He asked softly and the mint haired child gasped as he looked up at Hayato, eyes bloodshot and cheeks wet from tears.

“Hayato...”he muttered, voice far too deep and raspy for a ten year old boy.

“Can... I come in?” He asked carefully. Kotaro wasn’t very territorial, but if there was anything that both Hayato and Ryuuichi wanted to get across to him it was that this room was his space, he didn’t have to let Ryuuichi or Hayato in here, and he was free to do whatever he wanted in here, as long as he didn’t make it too big of a mess.

“Yeah...” Kotaro has muttered and Hayato had carefully walked over to the bed and sat down. He had never been much good at comforting, but he’d had a little practice with Ryuu and his stressful fits or frustration. He opened his arms, once again offering Kotaro the hug, in case the quiet kid didn’t want to be touched. Luckily, he practically sprang into Hayato’s arms, beginning to sob into his chest.

“What happened Kota?” He asked softly and the boy sniffles , still buried in Hayato’s chest. He began to rub up and down his back and run his fingers through his hair, this is what always calmed Ryuuichi down and it seems to work well for Kotaro as well.

“There were some kids at school...” Kotaro explained and Hayato immediately tensed, willing his overprotective senses to weaken, he needed to comfort Kotaro first.

“What did they say?” He asked softly and Kotaro hiccuped again.

“They said it was weird that I talk about you and Nii-Chan so much...” he elaborated, still shaking with silent sobs, “Then they said it was weird that I lived with my brother instead of my parents, and they wouldn’t stop calling me an orphan, but I’m not because you and Nii-Chan are my guardians, and I’ve still got Saihara and Obaa-Chan on top of that, I don’t understand why they would say that!”

Hayato hugged him tighter and kissed his head while Kotaro sobbed violently again.

“Kotaro, you’re not an orphan okay, and you’re not weird, and it’s okay to talk Ryuu and I, you’re in a unique situation and that’s okay, because you’re doing great,” he assured the child in his arms, “Don’t listen to those kids, some kids just don’t believe that you can be happy with a sibling, you saw how convinced Taka was when he was younger, and they’re probably angry that you’ve got such a good relationship with Ryu, okay?”

“I don’t want people to think I’m weird because my parents aren’t around, I can’t control that!” Kotaro shouted, and Hayato was admittedly taken aback, he had never seen the boy so angry.

“You’re right Kotaro, you can’t, but you also can’t control how other act, and what they say. What you can do is control the way you react,” Hayato soothed, rubbing Kotato’s back.

“When those kids say those things, ignore them, and tell a teacher, okay? And if the teachers don’t help, tell Taka, I’m sure he’d have plenty to say about it.” Kotaro nodded into his chest and then confused to cry. Hayato tried his hardest to be as comforting as possible for the next few minutes. Kotaro eventually fell asleep, curled together against Hayato like the man was a pillow.

Hayato heard the door open and close not even ten minutes after Kotaro fell asleep.

“Hayato?” He called, clearly confused by the lack of welcome from his fiance and brother sitting in the living room.

“In here!” Hayato called, trying to stay quiet but wanting Ryuuichi to hear him. He heard Ryuuichi appraching the bedroom door and when his fiancé popped his head in and saw Kotaro curled against Hayato, he was immediately not only confused but confirmed.

“What happened?” He asked quietly, sitting carefully on the bed next to Hayato and moving his hand to also run his fingers through Kotaro’s hair.

“Some little assholes making fun of him for living with his and not having parents,” he explained and saw the immediate anger on Ryuuichi’s face.

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah, like I said, Assholes.” Ryuuichi sighed and leaned his head on Hayato’s shoulder, looking concerned at his little brother.

“I knew it was almost inevitable that kids would question it but... that they would make fun of him baffles me...” Hayato hummed in agreement and kissed Ryuuichi’s forehead, moving the hand in Kotato’s hair to Ryuuichi’s running his fingers through his hair.

“Relax Ryuu, we can go talk to the teacher about it tomorrow when we pick him up, okay?” Ryuuichi nodded reluctantly and closed his eyes, falling asleep on Hayato’s shoulder.

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

Hayato was standing at the sink doing the dishes when he heard the all too familiar sound of a gaggle of teenagers entering his home. He sighed and turned off the water, placing the pan he’d been holding on the drying towel and reaching for the cupboard, he already knew what was to come.

He pulled down 6 mugs and started the kettle just as the teenagers came in to collapse at the counter. Kotaro stared off into space looking exasperated, Taka and Kirin dropped their heads onto the counter, and Takuma, Kazuma, and Midori all huffed and dropped their faces into their hands.

So hot chocolate it was then...

“What’s going on guys?” He asked and they all groaned in unison. He pulled down the box of hot chocolate mix, then also the whipped cream from the fridge and the marshmallows and chocolate syrup from the pantry.

“Middle school sucks, he heard his overdramatic younger brother grumble, causing him to snort.

“Yeah, imagine having to watch a demonic younger sibling through it all,” he jabbed at his little brother, who only glared back.

“Shut up Nii-Chan! This is an actual problem!” Hayato sighed and nodded.

“Okay okay,” he emptied all the hot chocolate packets into their mugs, and turned to look at the teenagers while he waited for the water to boil.

“What’s going on?” Everyone erupted into complaints, except for the all-saint, Kotaro.

“Woah! Guys he can hardly help you if you all talk at once!” Ryuu exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen. He stepped over to Hayato, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips, drawing a fake gag from Taka, some coos from Kirin, Midori, and Takuma, and uncomfortable silence from Kotaro and Kazuma.

“Welcome Home Honey,” Hayato whispered and pulled Ryuuichi up to kiss him again, simply because he knew that it would annoy Taka. Ryuuichi laughed and swatted at his husband’s chest.

“Stop purposefully embarrassing your brother,” he scolded then turned around to look at the teenagers at the table while Hayato kept one of his hands around his waist, rubbing his hip with his thumb.

“You two are disgustingly... what’s the word Kirin?” He asked, looking at the evergreen haired girl expectantly. She huffed and glared at Taka, but there was no heat in it.

“Domestic?” She asked and he nodded.

“It’s gross.” He concluded and Kirin rolled her eyes.

“No Taka, it’s cute, you’re just a stupid boy who knows nothing of love,” she scolded him, and he just rolled his eyes at her. Ryuuichi and Hayato shared a knowing glance with each other then the same look with Kotaro, who looked absolutely exhausted by his friends.

“Anyway, what’s going on guys?” He asked them all and then picked up his hand as they all began to talk at once. The kettle began to whistle so Hayato turned away, begrudgingly taking his hand off Ryuuichi’s hip as he began to pour the hot water into the mugs. Ryuuichi stayed turned around and pointed at Takuma who was sitting on the far left.

“You first Takuma, what’s your conundrum?” He decided and Takuma took a deep breath.

“I’m stupid.” He decided after a moment and Ryuuichi glared at him.

“None of your are in any way stupid, and I’d honestly prefer if you stopped saying such awful things about yourselves, but what’s going on?” He asked, then turned around to start putting the whipped cream on the mugs full of hot chocolate and marshmallows, then dribbling chocolate syrup over them.

“I’m doing really badly in my math class, and if I fail this next quiz they’re not gonna let me play in the next practice match!” He exclaimed, clearly very stressed by the consequences of failing, rather than the prospect.

“Well, what are you having trouble with?” Ryuuichi asked as he set a mug of hot chocolate in front of each he and his twin brother. Hayato set one in front of Midori and Taka, then Ryuuichi set one in front of Kotaro while Hayato brought his over to Kirin.

“It’s not that I’m bad at the math, when the problem is laid out I can solve it, but understanding the question is the problem!” He groaned and threw his face into his hands.

“Well, why don’t you just start studying as a group, it always helped me to sit down with Maria, Yuki, Nezu, Yagi, and of course Hayato when I was struggling, why don’t you?” Takuma looked around at his friends and they all nodded encouragingly so he nodded as well.

“Okay!” He exclaimed, and Hayato couldn’t help but think about how some things really never changed.

“Right, next, Kazuma, what’s on your mind?” The muncher more docile twin sighed deeply.

“I have art block, and that’s stressful because I have a whole canvas painting due in a week!” Kazuma brought his hands up and entangled his fingers in his hair, pulling, hard. Ryuuichi panicked slightly and rushed over to grab his hands, encouraging him to let go. Kazuma eventually did and Ryuuichi sighed, moving his own hands to the blonde’s hair and running his fingers through it comfortingly. Hayato moves over to the kitchen counter and sat on it, waiting for Ryuuichi to ask the next question.

“Alright, Kazu, is there a prompt? Or a subject I guess?” The boy sighed, and nodded.

“The prompt is comfort, but it has to be a scene, and I know that everyone else is gonna paint like, a hug, or their own canvas, but that’s just not what I want!” He exclaimed frustrated again. Ryuuichi hushed him and patted his head.

“Kazuma, you are one of the most creative kids I know, I believe that you can figure this out, okay?” Ryuuichi kissed the top of Kazuma’s head then walked over to stand between Hayato’s legs, facing the 14 year olds.

“Alright, Kirin, you’re next,” he said while Hayato wrapped his arms around his chest.

“Alright, so we’ve got that new music teacher this year right?” Ryuuichi nodded, and she continued, “Well, apparently she heard about me before she came here, and now she expects more from me than the other students! And like, I know that I can be better than the other guys in a lot of things, but I’m not perfect! Now she’s getting angry when I can’t get something and I don’t know what to do!” Kirin threw her hands up in the air hysterically and then fell back onto the counter. Ryuuichi looked sad for a second, then took a deep breath and began to speak.

“Kirin, you are very talented, and it is true that you are above most people with your skill, and maybe that makes it seem like she should push you harder, and I agree with her, you need to be challenged so that you can improve, but if you genuinely believe that what she is doing is too much, you need to tell her that, and explain that you have limits just as much as the other students do.” Kirin smiled at Ryuuichi and nodded.

“Okay...,” his eyes moved down to the next teenager, “Kota?” He asked his brother shook his head.

“I don’t have problems Nii-Chan, their problems are my problems, and your problems are my problems, but I don’t have my own problems...” Kotaro explainer, pulling a laugh from Hayato and the other kids. Ryuuichi just looked at him for a monent.

“Okay, but if you do,” Kotaro held up his hand, but before Hayato could scold him for being rude he spoke.

“If I have problems I go to my friends first, because maybe they can help solve it without getting an adult involved, then I need to come to you if it gets worse, if I don’t want to tell you I should talk to Hayato, I know, Nii-Chan.” Ryuuichi blushed and Taka snickered. Hayato also let out a small laugh at his husband and brother in law.

“Alright, well um... Taka, you’re next then,” Ryuuichi pointed out, looking to his brother in law. Taka nodded and then dropped his head again.

“Okay, so this problem is...” Taka trailed off and Hayato and Ryuuichi immediately got worried.

“Well... I’ve wanted to play baseball like Nii-Chan for... years, like forever basically, but I know that I’m not as good,” Taka explained and Hayato felt his chest clench. So it was this kind of problem.

“The problem is that the coach thinks I should be as good or better because I grew up with the legendary Hayato Kamitani as a brother and mentor...” Taka explained, getting quieter and quieter.

“And I want to play but it seems like everyone knows about you and I’m just... here, and they expect me to be more than I am and I just don’t know what to do.” Taka brought up his hands to press the heels to his eyes as he began to cry, whether out of frustration or distress neither Hayato or Ryuuichi knew but they didn’t really care. Hayato tapped Ryuuichi’s wrist and walked over to Taka.

“Don’t cry, you oversized toddler, it’s fine,” he assured his brother, rough-love always being his strong suit. Taka took a deep breath and nodded, but didn’t look at his brother.

“I don’t want to disappoint you...” he muttered and Hayato felt his chest clench again.

“Taka, just because my thing is baseball doesn’t mean it has to be yours, you’ve been doing MMA since you were like, 6 and you’re better than some of your teachers, it’s okay to be average at some things,” Hayato reaches his hand up and began to run his fingers through Taka’s hair.

“Taka, do you want us to talk to the coach, do you want to?” Ryuuichi asked softly and his brother in law looked up at him in surprise,

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Well, I took a major in education and a minor in child psychology, I know how things effect children, I’ve been studying child psychology practically since I was ten, and I know that expecting so much from you isn’t good for you, I want to talk to your teacher, but if you don’t want me to, you can,” Taka gasped and looked at Ryuuichi with wide eyes then he looked at Hayato.

“I want... I want you guys to...” he concluded and Ryuuichi nodded, walking over to hug Taka.

“Do you want us to talk to your teacher too Kirin?” Hayato asked and she hesitated for a moment before nodding. The two adults nodded back and then looked at Midori.

“Alright, what about you Midori?” Ryuuichi turned, asking for her to elaborate on what her problem was. Ryuuichi pulled out the bench on the other side of her and sat down, Hayato taking his place behind Ryuuichi, hands around his waist and chin on his shoulder.

“Mm, it’s not such a big deal compared to these guys...” the significantly younger girl muttered and Ryuuichi shook his head.

“No, if it’s enough to trouble you, it’s enough to solve, now tell us,” Kotaro and Taka cracked a smile at Ryuuichi’s words.

“Well... there’s these girls in my class, and they started talking to me at the beginning of the year, and I thought that they actually wanted to be my friend, but lately they’ve been asking a lot of questions about Taka, Kotaro, and the twins and I don’t want to just sit around and talk about the boys! I wanna do other things too!” Ryuuichi looked down and smiled, shaking his head. He then looked up at Hayato who averted his gaze. He practically cackled before turning back to Midori.

“Drop them, they’re interested in the boys, not you, and they don’t deserve your attention,” Ryuuichi suggested and Midori nodded, Hayato spoke up next.

“You should hang out with the boys specifically in their sight, just to rub it in their face,” he suggested and Ryuuichi swatted at him.

“It’s kinda funny that you four kinda became the equivalent to Hayato, Nezu, Yagi, and I when we were in middle school.

“But the weird thing is that Kotaro is more similar to myself, and Takuma is more like you,” Ryuuichi laughed, ignoring the bewildered faces the teenagers gave them.

“And Taka is like Yagi!” He pointed out. Hayato threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.

“What are you guys talking about?” Kirin asked and Ryuuichi struggled to catch his breath so he could explain.

“When we were in highschool, Hayato, Yagi, Nezu, and I were what people called the Favored Four. We were always being asked out and confessed to, Hayato even had upper class men into him,” he explained and Taka stuck out his tongue.

“Gross.” He said and Ryuuichi giggled.

“Yeah, I was exhausted, imagine being in love with your bestfriend and everyone just keeps asking you out, everyone but him!” Hayato complained and Ryuuichi smacked him.

“Hush!” He scolded while Taka, once again, fake gagged at his brothers’ antics.

“You’re really good at giving advice Ryuuichi,” Kazuma spoke up and the man was stunned.

“Uh, thank you Kazuma,” he muttered and cast his gaze down, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

“Mama always said you’d make a great parent...” Midori said and Ryuuichi blanched. He’d never thought about having kids.

Or, well he’d never talked to Hayato about it, they had enough on their plate, with Kotaro and work, but he’d definitely thought about kids before.

“It’s true! And Kotaro will be gone soon! You two should start thinking about it!” Kirin said and Ryuuichi blushed brighter. Hayato huffed and looked at the teenagers annoyed. It was funny how one of his expressions could say an entire sentence.

Like, “Shut up you idiots, you’re embarrassing him and we’ve got other things to worry about right now.” Everyone of the kids mouths were shut and they didn’t talk any more. After a couple seconds Hayato walked to the closet.

“So, what are we watching this time?” He asked as he pulled down a few blankets and pillows. Taka, Midori, Kirin, and Takuma lit up, and the other two got about as excited as it gets with the two of them, and they rushed over to the living room.

“Let’s watch a horror movie!” Taka shouted and Hayato rolled his eyes.

“Absolutely not.” He growled and his little brother glared back. Hayato kicked him lightly as he walked over to drop the pillows and blankets on the floor. He then went back to the closet and grabbed some metal poles and the same amount of metal plates with small holes in them.

Ryuuichi smiled at him as he took the poles and set them up on four corners. Two next to the couch, and two next to the tv stand. One more was placed in the center. They began pulling a string of thin but strong rope through the holes at the top of the poles and then they began to put blankets on top. The metal plates were used as bases at the bottom of the poles, and they had a drawer in the corner table that had a box of rubber bands in it. With the kids help, Hayato and Ryuuichi put the blankets on top of the poles then secured them in place with rubber bands. The girls were inside setting up pillows and blankets in a comfortable way while the boys were outside, helping the adults with the fort. Kotaro was also inside the fort, looking through movies and trying to find one he thought both Kirin and Taka would agree on.

They’d started doing this regularly when the kids were ten years old, hence the ready and waiting closet of fort supplies, and Hayato had quickly designed a kind of easily set up structure for the blankets to rest on. Using kitchen chairs and furniture was not doing too well for them. The Kamitani-Kashima apartment was the usual hangout for the kids, though Ryuuichi couldn’t help but dread the day they decided hanging out in the same house as their older siblings wasn’t cool.

The adults both settled on the couch, Ryuuichi cuddled into Hayato’s chest. Kotaro and Taka were sitting on the other side of the couch while the other four teenagers sat on pillows on the floor in front of them. They watched a random movie that Kotaro had put on and just chilled out for a couple of hours before Ryuuichi insisted on driving the twins, Kirin, and Midori home, Taka just stayed with them.

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

“Nii-Chan!” Kotaro shouted from his bedroom, where he was doing homework. Ryuuichi jumped up from where he was laying down with Hayato. Hayato folllwed as well.

“If you don’t control your overenergetic brat of a child, I’m moving in with the Kamitanis.” He growled. Kotaro was never very aggressive, so Hayato was immediately very confused by his words. When they came into the room, they saw Kotaro’s chemistry homework on the bed, Kotaro standing next to his bookshelf, his panda ceramic they’d bought him when he was young, shattered, and Akari sitting on the ground looking on the verge of tears as Kotaro glared at her. Ryuuichi gasped and rushed over to get Akari away from the broken glass while Kotaro just continued to glare.

“What happened Kota?” He asked as he passed Akari off to Hayato.

“That- f-...” Kotaro took a deep breath.

“That brat, wandered in here while I was trying to do my homework, and decided to try and climb my shelf! She shattered my panda, and started wailing, which has definitely completely thrown me off and I’m honestly just getting more annoyed.” He explained, all in one breath and fuming. Ryuuichi took a step forward to begin scolding Kotaro because Akari is only young but Hayato put his hand on his shoulder, silencing him. He offered Akari to him and gestures for him to leave then turned back to Kotaro. The 16 year old was still visibly fuming as he grabbed the trashcan next to his desk and began to throw away the remnants of his panda ceramic.

“Kotaro, look at me,” Hayato commander, trying to stay calm and understanding. Kotaro looked up at Hayato, anger, hurt, and, terrifyingly, fear in his eyes.

“What’s it gonna be Haya?” He asked, still mindlessly throwing the glass into his trashcan.

“Kotaro, I understand that you’re annoyed, but she only 4,” he reminded him and Kotaro couldn’t help but grimace at his words. He knew that. He knew that Akari was only 4 years old but he was annoyed, that was one of his oldest possessions, and one of his favorites, he couldn’t help the anger.

“I know, Haya, but this is the sixth f-,” Kotaro has to catch himself again, he didn’t like to curse in front of his brothers, “this is the sixth thing that she has broken this week, and I’m just getting sick of it!” He exclaimed, clearly feeling awful as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. Hayato sighed and nodded. He walked over to kneel down in front Kotaro, avoiding the broken ceramic.

“Why don’t you just shut the door? She can’t reach the handle,” he pointed out, and Kotaro shook his head.

“No, because I only shut the door whenever I’m made at you or Ryuuichi, and I don’t want No-Chan to think that I’m mad at him,” he gritted out and Hayato nodded in understanding.

“Do you want to... put away some of the more fragile things until she’s older or you move out?” Kotaro took a deep breath and shook his head again.

“Okay, well we can hardly keep her locked in her room, this is her house too,” Hayato pointed out and Kotaro nodded with a sigh.

“I just, I want her to stay away from my things, I don’t mind if she’s in here, which is why I put the fragile things higher up but she just, climbs the shelves!” Kotaro was getting frustrated again so Hayato reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

“What about a glass cabinet, I’ll get you one so you can keep things on display, but the cabinet would have magnetized doors, she wouldn’t be able to open them.” Kotaro took a deep breath and nodded. Hayato nodded as well and went to go get the broom.

“Is he okay?” Ryuuichi asked from where he was sitting in the kitchen, watching Akari carefully as she sat in her high chair eating orange slices.

“He’s frustrated, Ryuu, he’s 16 years old and feels like his space isn’t being respected,” Ryuuichi nodded in understanding, worrying his bottom lip. He looked at the ground, casting his gaze away from his husband.

“I almost yelled at him Haya...” he muttered, Hayato could barely hear him. But when he did, he was shocked, Ryuuichi didn’t yell at anyone, let alone at his little brother.

“I don’t know what came over me, but I just got so angry when he talked about Akari like that...” He muttered and Hayato sighed when he watched a sob rack his husband’s body.

“Ryuu, do you remember when Taka drew all over my autographed baseball?” Ryuuichi took a deep breath, brows furrowing in thought before he nodded.

“Do you remember what you said to me?” He asked next and Ryuuichi shook his head softly.

“Well, it was something to the affect of, ‘You can get angry over things like this, but you can’t punish them, they don’t understand’, and you’re right, and I was the bigger person, but you also have to understand that Kotaro doesn’t get angry like that easily, he’s genuinely upset that Akari keeps breaking stuff, and I think that’s even more upset that neither of us made a move to prevent it.” Ryuuichi nodded in understanding then fell forward, resting his forehead against Hayato’s chest. He began to cry softly, and Hayato wrapped his arms around him.

“It was so much easier when he was still a baby, and he didn’t fight with me...” Ryuuichi whispered and Hayato laughed.

“He still doesn’t fight with you, he just has things of his own now,” Hayato pointed out and Ryuuichi let out a breathy laugh.

“Daddy sad?” Akari asked from behind them and Ryuuichi sat up and wiped his tears.

“No, honey, I’m not sad,” he assured her and she furrowed her brows.

“Daddy angry?” She asked this time and he shook his head again, she nodded then pointed down the hall of their home.

“Ko-Chan angry...” she elaborated, and Hayato sighed, letting go of Ryuuichi to walk over and pull Akari out of her high chair. He held her to his chest and bounced her as he spoke.

“Yeah, Ko-Chan’s angry, but that’s because you weren’t being very nice,” he said and tears welled into her eyes, Ryuuichi rushes forward to take her but Hayato turned away giving Ryuuichi a stern look. Ryuuichi looked kinda upset but backed down.

“Akari, you really hurt Kota’s feelings when you break his things,” she sniffled and Hayato patted her head.

“Just wanna play...” she muttered and he nodded in understanding.

“I know that baby, but those are Kotaro’s things, and when you break them it makes him very sad, how would you feel if Kotaro broke your toys?” He asked and she gasped. Looking at him with shiny eyes. He nodded with a matter of fact face.

“Yeah, I know, that feels bad doesn’t it?” She nodded and he nodded back at her.

“Do you want to apologize?” He asked and she nodded quickly. Hayato looked back at Ryuuichi with a face that basically read, ‘She needed that,’ Ryuuichi nodded in understanding.

“Okay, lets go,” he said and pointed at the broom and vacuum. Ryuuichi nodded in understand and reached for both, following Hayato and Akari to the bedroom. When they reached the doorway, Hayato knocked softly.

“Kota?” He called, drawing Kotaro’s attention to him, “Can we come in?” Kotaro looked wearily at the toddler in Hayato’s arms but nodded, shutting his chemistry book and ushering all of his papers into a pile on top of it. Hayato came and sat down, setting Akari on the bed next to him. She looked up at Kotaro with wet eyes and crawled toward him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him. Kotaro looked shocked by the action, but wrapped his arms around her in return.

“I’m sorry Ko-Chan!” She shouted into his chest and his eyes widened.

“I forgive you Akari...” he whispered and she snuggled into his chest. He sighed, resting his head on top of her’s, and looking up at his brothers.

“I’m sorry...” he mouthed and Ryuuichi shook his head quickly while Hayato did so much slower. After a minute, Hayato have Ryuuichi a look, and he nodded while Hayato carried Akari out of the bedroom, he laid her down in her bed to take a nap then went to sit outside the door in case he needed to step in and moderate.

“I’m sorry Kotaro,” Ryuuichi muttered and he heard Kotaro sigh.

“No, it’s not your fault...” he insisted, he heard what he assumed was Ryuuichi sitting down on the bed.

“Kotaro, this is your space, and those are your things, and I’m sorry that she broke them, I need to take responsibility, because admittedly, that’s what I did when you did something wrong as a baby,” Kotaro took in a shaky breath and it sounded like Ryuuichi hugged him.

“I’m sorry that I expected so much for you, I forget sometimes how hard I worked so that you didn’t have to grow up too fast, but I think I might be comparing you to me at your age, and I’m so sorry...” He heard Ryuuichi begin to cry and poked his head into the room, making eye contact with Kotaro who moved one of his hands grasping Ryuuichi to reach out for him. Hayato smiled and stepped closer to his boys, pulling them into a hug.

“It’s true that you had to grow up too quickly Nii-Chan, but I’ve always been really mature, so I don’t blame you for expecting better from me,” Kotaro muttered and Ryuuichi cried harder. Hayato sighed, hugging them both tighter, he didn’t interject, he just acted as a comfort.

“You’re still a child Kotaro, no matter how much you don’t act like it, you’re a child, growing into an adult who wants what’s to have his own space and things because you have that ability and I don’t know why I didn’t think about it...” Ryuuichi muttered and Kotaro spoke up again.

“Because you never experienced that feeling Nii-Chan. You’ve always been so giving and incredible, you never wanted to inconvenience anyone, and you never wanted to see me unhappy, so you sacrificed a lot...” Hayato rubbed both of their backs as they cried.

After a while he ushered them both out of the bedroom to calm down and watch some TV for a bit.

[dancing-the-hellfire-rumba]

Seen ✓ - 1

REWRITE OF “Can You See The Stars”

Pairing: Sam x Fem!Reader Warnings: fear of being kidnapped Word Count: 2.4k Series Summary: On her way home, Y/n finds an abandoned, cracked phone on the sidewalk. Anxious about the well-being of its owner, she picks it up and texts the first contact she finds; Sam.  A/N:This is my second attempt at the story everyone loved, with an actual pllot in mind this time. So, attempt number two, better writing, better story. Have at it kids.

I have tagged the old taglist for this first part. Let me know if you wanna be removed/ added

Beta: The lovely @percywinchester27​ . Thank you so so much hon :) Masterlist

Chapter One: you sure know how to fuck me up on a friday night

Y/n   |  Sam

The road to independence is uphill, and Y/n knows this better than anyone. She’s done it all. She’s gone through jobs at a similar speed with which she goes through books, worked two or more of them, while also studying for college… She knows how it works, and it’s really fucking difficult to balance emotional baggage the size of a city, an underage sister and college, while also trying to keep, not only yourself, but another person, alive, under a safe roof with food in your stomachs.

Currently, she’s only working one job, at a dive bar owned by a friend of a friend as a waitress.

It’s a difficult job, and Y/n has struggled with it, but the hardest part is not the endless knowledge one needs to mix drinks –on the nights Joel takes time off and she has to take his spot behind the bar- or the carrying up to twenty pounds of glasses and drinks and delivering them at the right table without soaking herself or anyone else with copious amounts of alcohol. Any minimum wage worker will tell you the same thing- clients of any kind fucking suck. Especially if you’re a young woman at a dive bar after midnight.

Another thing she’s struggled with is not having too much money, which is why she’s needed multiple jobs in the past, so she has to use public transport- buses specifically, to go to and from work. And that is exactly where she finds herself, a couple hours after midnight, at her bus stop, five minutes from the bar, when she finds a phone which, unbeknownst to her, will flip her world upside down.

It sits on the pavement of the bus stop, limp and sad. The screen is cracked a significant amount, and for a second she figures someone got rid of it and was too much of an asshole to throw it in the trash. But the second that thought crosses her mind, the screen lights up with a concerning text.

dude where the fuck are you?!

The contact reads “Sam”, and Y/n stands over the phone staring at it. She’s concerned. What if the phone’s owner is in trouble? The device may have fallen from their pocket on the pavement and cracked because they were running from someone and never made it home, and now whoever is texting them is worried for their well-being. Anxiety grips her heart.

It’s instinct that brings her to kneel down and pick it up. She can’t possibly know when the owner lost it, or how long the phone has been sitting there, but there’s an overwhelming urge to contact this Sam person and let them know what’s going on. Of course, the voice in Y/n’s head tells her that this all could just be a product of her anxiety, but it beats leaving it there and having it be stolen by a passerby.

Whatever, right? Best case scenario, she contacts the owner, who is perfectly safe and sound, and they take their phone back. She’s not really planning to pocket it. It’s fairly damaged anyways. Her own three year old, beat-up, 100$ phone is in better condition.

The bus arrives, and Y/n picks up the phone and boards it.

As she sits in her usual seat in the back, alone in the bus apart from an elderly man asleep with his head on a window and a cap on his head near the front, she starts speculating, eyes glued to the black device in her hands. Who’s the owner? Who is Sam to them? Perhaps a partner? A friend? How did the owner lose their phone? Why would this Sam sound so concerned, and most importantly, is the owner okay?

The heavy weight of dread weighs her chest at the thought of the phone’s owner being in trouble and without a phone. She must contact Sam immediately.

Hey, is this Sam?

As she awaits for a response, her curiosity is killing her. The intrigued part of her, reasons that she should snoop, it’s alright, she’s only looking for more information about the owner. Like whether or not they’re a woman or a man- which, sadly, matters when you’re walking alone in dark streets like the ones around this area- and perhaps their age –because, again, it matters if they are a teenager or a forty-year old adult.

The lack of passcode indicates someone older, with nothing to hide, or perhaps someone less technologically savvy, again, someone who may not be very young. The lockscreen is the most popular Led Zeppelin icon, and she instantly respects their music taste, and the home screen is some generic western movie from the 90s with Clint Eastwood. The chances of this belonging to someone younger further decline.

There’s a grand total of four downloaded apps in the phone. There’s an email app, a scrabble app, a microphone recorder and a dating app, no other sign of social media. Someone over 18 years old, definitely.

Soon, she’s tapping on the dating app, and opening their profile page. Holy shit, she thinks.

A guy, the tall, dark and handsome kind. Spiky hair and a smolder-like smile, sharp edges everywhere on his face apart from his gentle, olive-shaped and colored eyes. His lips are full, his nose straight, and his eyelashes long, dark and thick. He’s a real-life dreamboat, the kind you see in movies and Cosmopolitan articles about sex. He’s sitting on a black muscle car, a Chevrolet, with his thick thighs barely contained in blue jeans.

Dean Winchester, the app writes. 28. Male. Likes: old cars, beer, hard rock, westerns, she figured that much, bacon burgers. Dislikes: pop music, modern horror movies, uncomfortable beds. Not looking for anything serious, just a night of fun ;), and wow, okay, he sounds a bit like a dick. The very Red-blooded American Male kind, that enjoys BBQs and winking at women from across the bar. She’s had enough of those during her line of work; she can recognize them from a mile away.

Whatever the case, her moral compass couldn’t allow her to pass up on the opportunity to possibly help someone in trouble. She ignores her urge to roll her eyes, and scrolls a little, finding other pictures of the same guy, when suddenly two separate notifications appear, the phone itself vibrating. One is from the app, which has now received a picture from this girl, Jamie, one which she certainly doesn’t plan on opening, seeing as it’s followed by a winky face. The second one is from Sam.

jesus dean how drunk are you

yes it’s sam. your brother? remember?

No, this isn’t Dean, uh.

My name is Y/n. Your brother lost his phone at a bus stop, near a bar.

i should’ve figured. dean rarely ever uses punctuation.

nice to meet you i guess

Nice to meet you, too.

So basically, uhm, I thought you might help me return his phone to him? I got worried, because this was dumped on the sidewalk, I thought he may be in trouble or something.

knowing him he probably dropped it while being too shitfaced to function.

gotta admit i’m impressed though. most people would’ve pocketed it by now.

I mean, it’s not much use to me with such a cracked screen haha.

yeah i guess.

i don’t know about getting it back to him though. i’m in kansas right now so i’m not close by. i don’t think i can help you.

he doesn’t use social media either.

Crap.

What the hell am I supposed to do with this phone then?

keep it probably.

You sure there’s no other way I can reach him?

i mean i can give you his email but i’m not sure he’ll respond.

I’ll take it. Thank you :)

no problem :)

As she looks up the bus stops, and she quickly realizes this is her stop. Throwing profanities loudly enough to wake the older man at the front of the bus, she scrambles for her things, haphazardly thrown in the seat next to her, and gets off the bus. She pats herself down, making sure she hasn’t forgotten anything as the doors of the bus shut, and starts down the road to her apartment complex.

She could probably navigate this road blind. There are many ways to reach the apartment she’s renting from the bus stop, but her favorite goes through the park. It’s a large area, full of big trees with thick foliage and leaves that brown in the fall. The paths are paved and winded, and the park benches are stained with dark wood stain and curve comfortably. She enjoys coming here in evenings she has off, watching the sun descend behind the top of the trees with a good book.

The air smells like oncoming rain now, and with headphones deep in her ears, she walks taking deep breaths and enjoying the clear atmosphere that seems so unlike the roads that surround the park. As soon as she spots the first raindrop falling from the sky, she pulls her hood over her head and smiles.

It’s minutes later, when single drops have picked up to a drizzle, that she gets a sinking feeling, her hair standing up on edge at the back of her neck, shoulders knotting closer to her ears. Someone is close to her.

With the wire pinched between her thumb and index, she pulls one earbud off and pays attention to the surrounding sounds. Sure enough there’s a second pair of footsteps behind her.

Fuck, if she gets kidnapped or attacked right now, she’s fucked. There are no witnesses, and at this time of night screaming for help would be futile. She checks her bag, but her paper spray is nowhere to be found.

Yeah. Definitely fucked.

Her hands go deep in her pockets, going for her phone, but as she hears the footsteps behind her picking up speed along with hers, she panics and grabs Dean’s instead. She doesn’t look for her own, there’s no time for that, so she does the first thing she thinks of.

She texts Sam.

I think I’m being followed.

what?

Yeah

wait what’s going on? are you okay? who’s following you?

I’m walking home from work. I can’t see who it is, but they’re definitely on my tail.

how are you even typing right now??

is there any buildings around?  somewhere public to get in?

It’s 3 am. Everything is shut and I’m in the middle of a fucking park, Sam.

Fuck, I’m fucked.

what are you doing at 3 am in the middle of a fucking park then?!

A hand falls on her shoulder and she goes to scream, before she’s quickly spun around. Her free hand is curled in a fist, ready to fall on the attacker’s nose, when they speak.

“Y/n! I thought it was you!”

“Connor?!” She squints and pushes her hair away from her forehead, heart just about ready to fail out of the fright she’s gotten. “Fuck’s sake, dude, what the fuck are you doing sneaking up on me in the middle of the night like this?!” Rain still falls on her, grounding her to the present, the fact she won’t have to fight for her life and corporeal integrity sinking in slowly.

Her neighbor smiles a crooked smile, watching her place a hand over her heart and taking a deep breath. His fluffy blonde hair is damp under the light rain, light green eyes glowing under the street lights. She’s so angry at him right now, she legitimately thought she was gonna die for a second there.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” he says, dropping his hand from her shoulder. “I didn’t think to call out to you.” A shrug.

“It’s okay,” it’s really not, but there’s no point in staying angry at him. Besides, she figures she’ll be a little safer with him walking next to her all the way back to their apartment complex.

On the way back, they catch up. Connor is back in town after a long week and a half at his sister’s wedding. He’s in a brand new relationship with the guy he’s been pining over for like 9 months now, and he got a job at the bookstore, close to their building, he’s starting next week. He was out for a drink, he offers as an explanation, and was returning home, when he bumped into her. The park is also his favorite route to take.

The key dangles from her hands and finds a home in the lock and twists, while Y/n waves at her neighbor.

“Have a good night, Connor.”

“You too, Y/n.” It’s delivered with a wink and a bright smile.

The motions of dropping her bag by the kitchen counter, dumping the keys in the small bowl and hanging her coat on the hanger are delivered on autopilot in quick succession. Shoes toed off, hair pulled out of her lazy bun, she falls unceremoniously on her thrifted couch, feet suspended on the hand rest. Emmy must be asleep, the only lights on in the house are the fairy lights over the couch, setting a soft glow over the furniture. Y/n sighs. What a day.

Seconds before she falls asleep on the couch, a phone vibrates and it’s definitely not her own. Her eyes snap wide open, and she curses, fumbling with Dean’s device.

The messages are seven, and they all share the same panicked tone. Upon reading them, Y/n facepalms and curses, guilt weighing her down. Poor guy.

y/n?

what’s going on?

are you okay?

y/n

what the hell is going on.

you’re not replying.

please text me if you’re safe.

My God, Sam, I’m so sorry.

It was a neighbor/friend, he sneaked up on me.

you sure know how to fuck me up on a friday night.

I’m genuinely so sorry, Sam, I had no idea it was him.

it’s okay

you were scared.

i am starting to question your choice in friends though.

Y/n grins for the first time that day. It’s wide and full. Sam sounds like a guy she’d hang out with.

Hahahah yeah.

I promise, Connor’s odd, but he means well.

well i have to go

but i’m glad you’re safe

Again, I’m really sorry to make you go through that.

it’s fine really.

Thank you.

Goodnight :)

Night :)

 ---

Part 2

A/N 2: Tell me how you’re liking the rewrite! 

Old Can You See The Stars taglist: @shutupiminlooove​ @sammysgirl1997​ @kymberlytorres​ @bambi95-blog​ @demonic-meatball​ @thekarliwinchester​ @littlekay15​ @li-m-ii​  @thinspo-isuppose​ @carryonmywaywarddemigodwitch @ellen-reincarnated1967 @moonlitskinwalker​ @marichromatic​ @illuminatus42​ @lazy-author​ @mirandaaustin93​ @hauntedsiriel​ @pilaxia​ @devilgirlsarah​ @nobodys-baby-now​ @captiveties​ @calamitychaos @midiocris @wordswillscream​

Sam taglist @kymberlytorres @theboykingsam @depressed-moose-78 @andi-mendes-barnes​ @captainmarvelcorps​ @nerd-in-a-galaxy-far-away​ @nellachain​

[haloshornsinkstains]

Devildom Easter Egg Hunt

A little late, but the idea came to me at like 11pm last night and I'm old and suck at staying up late these days.

Anyway, Easter in the Devildom. With my MC Kore, because I missed writing about her.

Warnings: Female MC, Not a reader insert, polyamory, way too much description of baskets of chocolate, that's it.

“What the hell are ya wearing Kore?”

“Everyone come to the council room after classes, it’s important.” That’s what the text had said. The one sent from your phone to all of the brothers, and all three residents of Purgatory Hall. It was more than a little suspicious, for one Kore never wanted to stay longer at RAD than she really had to, and secondly she was usually much more polite when requesting a favour. But to use the council room she must have gained Diavolo’s permission so it couldn’t be anything too bad right? At least, that’s how they reassured themselves before turning up. Whatever scenarios they had planned out, none of them came close to what greeted them in the council room.

She looked down for a moment, before grinning back at Mammon. “You don’t recognise it?”

“I believe what Mammon means is why are you wearing that?” Lucifer sighed, shaking his head at the younger demon who had been momentarily rendered speechless.

“Well…” She started, still smiling happily at them all, “it’s Easter in the human realm, and since I already had the bunny costume on hand from that serving job we did, I thought I could share some of the festivities with you all. Technically I’m a bit late, Easter was yesterday, but I wanted Dia, um, Lord Diavolo to be able to join in and he wasn’t back until last night.”

The Prince in question was standing behind her beaming happily, nodding along with everything Kore said. “Now now Lucifer, no need to look so grumpy. I think it’s wonderful Kore wanted to bring something from the human realm to all of us!”

“But, that doesn’t explain why yer wearing that!” Mammon huffed. “Anyone could see ya like that!”

“Mammon… everyone already has seen me in this? And you’re all here anyway.” She shrugged. “In the human realm there’s an easter tradition where a rabbit brings chocolate eggs to kids. I know you’re not kids, but it seemed like fun. I organised an egg hunt and everything!”

“Did you say chocolate?”

“Yes Beel, chocolate eggs. The ones for the egg hunt aren’t, because it would give you an unfair advantage, but the prizes are chocolate eggs.” She laughed, pointing to the small pile of baskets behind her. “No touching until we’re done.”

Beel pouted a little, but stared determinedly at the baskets. Levi frowned beside him.

“So, this is a game? Are there clues?” His eyes flashed with interest, games he could do.

“Not really, I can give you some if you’re stuck though!” Kore laughed. “So, I hid 60 eggs, with Barbatos’ help so he’s going to stay here and keep me company guarding the prize baskets. He isn’t allowed to tell anyone where they are, including you Dia, and you agreed to not ask him.” Diavolo nodded. “So, the rules are; no magic,” she nodded towards Solomon and Lucifer, “no stealing from other people, if they found the egg it’s theirs,” a few sideways glances towards Mammon, “and no fighting. Everyone got that?”

There were assorted nods and murmurs of acceptance from the gathered Demons and Angels.

“Don’t look so pouty Luci, you don’t have to join in if you don’t want to. You can still have a basket of chocolates.”

Lucifer huffed. “Of course I’m taking part. But you neglected to tell us where the eggs had been hidden, unless you mean for us to search the whole Devildom?”

Kore blushed and shook her head. “Sorry! They’re in RAD, the Castle and their grounds. I would have hidden them in the House of Lamentation and Purgatory Hall but I didn’t get time between classes and Barb had duties to fulfill.”

“Then can we begin?”

She nodded at Lucifer. “The inaugural Devildom Easter Egg Hunt is go! Good Luck!”

Kore leaned back against the table, watching with amusement as the group scattered, most heading for the door to scour the school. Simeon and Luke stayed back, opting to look around the council room first instead. Simeon glanced down at Luke, standing on his tiptoes to try and peer over one of the taller plinths and sighed.

“Kore?”

She glanced over at the angel. “What is it Simeon?”

“Would it be permissible to work in teams for this game?” He nodded towards Luke, expression fond as ever.

“Of course Simeon! It’s not really as serious as all that, I only put the rules in place so no one spoiled the fun by magicking all the eggs to them or getting into a fight. It’s just for fun.” She giggled, patting one of the prize baskets. “Besides, I’d put money on Beel and Belphie already teaming up. Even if it’s just from Belphie’s laziness.”

As if on queue a shout echoed through the room from the corridor. “Oi! Ya not allowed to work together like that!”

“Kore never said working together was against the rules!”

“Mammon, let them be. Belphie isn’t likely to be much help when Beel is carrying him.”

Kore burst into laughter, shaking her head at their antics. “Well, I would wish you luck again Simeon, but I don’t think you’re in the most need of it.”

He chuckled in response, heading over to the younger angel to guide him out of the room. “Indeed, come on Luke. See you later Kore.”

She nodded, in response, leaning back and listening to the echoing voices through the halls as Barbatos came to sit beside her, letting her lean her shoulder against his.

That was how they found them two hours later, when all of the eggs had been collected and the hunters returned to the room, Kore tucked against Barbatos’ side giggling at something he’d told her while his arm rested around her waist.

“Ah, I’m glad to see you weren’t too bored while we were searching for eggs!” Diavolo boomed, chuckling at the sight before them.

Kore flushed bright pink, head shooting up to stare at the gathered group with wide eyes. Her gaze shifted quickly over Mammon and Levi, smiling softly at them to try and ease the tension from them. There would likely be time for a discussion later, but she was pleased to see neither jumped to chase Barbatos away from her, polyamory was hardest for the two of them but they were growing, learning.

“You should know already that Barbatos is excellent company.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “Go on then, how many eggs have you all collected?”

They handed over their eggs, letting Kore note down how many each had carefully before the next person handed theirs over. She paused half way through, looking at the ones Beel and Belphie handed over with a small frown.

“Um, Beel, why is this one half of an egg?” She asked, holding the slightly mangled object in her palm.

Beel rubbed the back of his neck, refusing to meet her gaze. “I, um, forgot you said they weren’t chocolate and I got hungry.”

“It was lucky he didn’t swallow it whole.” Belphie grumbled.

Kore giggled and nodding, noting down their score.

Once all the eggs were counted Kore jumped from the table ready to announce the scores.

“Alright gentlemen, the scores for the inaugural Devildom Easter Egg hunt are in! I’ll be going in ascending order of score, last place to first okay?” There were a few nods. “Okay, last place with two eggs is Asmo,”

“I knew I shouldn’t have stopped to fix my hair.”

“6th place is Solomon with three eggs, not bad, joint 5th place are Satan and the team of Simeon and Luke with five eggs each,”

“Well done Luke, you found most of those for us! I’d have been last without your help.”

“Damn, if Lucifer hadn’t beaten me up that tree using his stupid wings…”

Kore paused. “Wait, you climbed a tree Satan?!”

“Don’t worry Kore, I have it all on video. I may not have found many eggs, but I did capture most of the best moments on camera. Satan was very cat-like.”

“Thank you Solomon, I’ll be getting all of those from you later.” She grinned, looking back to the list. Okay, so 4th place is Lucifer with seven eggs. Then in joint 3rd place we have Mammon and Diavolo with eight eggs each, congratulations both of you,”

“I guess third place ain’t too bad. At least I beat Lucifer.”

“Oh excellent! I think that was very good for my first Easter Egg Hunt, don’t you?”

“Yes Dia, that’s a very respectable score. In 2nd place with ten eggs is Levi,”

“Damn, I guess it’s not bad for a game that involved physical activity…”

“Which means in 1st place is the team of Beel and Belphie with twelve eggs. Congratulations you two.”

“It was pretty much all Beel.” Belphie yawned. “As soon as he knew there was food on the line I mostly just napped.”

“Honestly I’d have been very impressed if anyone beat Beel in a competition that involved winning something edible.” Solomon chuckled.

“Alright, so Beel, Belphie, you get first choice of the Easter baskets.” Kore smiled, gesturing towards the table behind her.

“Are they not all the same then?”

“No Luke, they’re all the same value but the contents differ slightly. Different shops and types of chocolate. Some just have big eggs, there’s a couple with lots of small things, some are a mix of everything… you know? Also Barbatos baked a couple of treats, so there’s one in each basket too.”

“You put a lot of thought into this.” Diavolo hummed. “It’s very impressive Kore.”

She rubbed the back of her neck, looking down at the floor. “Well, Barb helped a lot, and… um, I just wanted to make sure it was fun?”

“You did an excellent job on your own, I merely offered a helping hand.” Barbatos sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Do not sell yourself short Kore.”

“Ah… Thank you. Okay guys, pick your baskets.”

Beel, to the surprise of no one, picked a basket full of large eggs, Belphie went for one with small sheep shaped chocolates. Levi picked a basket with a mix, including some small pink flower shaped chocolates that looked just like ones from an episode of the anime he watched the week before. Mammon’s basket also had a mix, mostly white chocolates dusted with golden sheen. Diavolo picked a basket of large eggs, dark, white and milk with intricate decorations across their surface. Lucifer’s basket of choice was filled with the darkest chocolate, more bitter than sweet and perfect with coffee. Simeon and Luke picked matching baskets, large and small chocolates in marbled milk and white. Satan’s basket was small chocolates, full of unique flavours and combinations. The final two baskets were fairly similar, a mix of sizes and types, though Asmo’s leant more towards fruity flavours than Solomon’s. With all the baskets collected Kore grinned at them.

“Happy Easter everyone!” She paused, glancing over at Barbatos. “Oh, Barb, your basket should be in your room.”

[maiuowrites]

Training Gone Wrong 2

Continuation of TGW.

TW tags; Blood, Gore, mentions of child trafficking, child abuse, implied non-consent, and violence.

Please read at your own risk.

-----------------------------

    A low growl was coming from the one Sans had apparently hit, the welt from the child in clear view until Papyrus realized what it was… 

‘A Dog?...’ He thought, his grip on the two tightening. ‘When do they come out this far?’

“shit... hang on!” Papyrus said, keeping them close and trying to port… 

...Only for it to fail. 

“...P-...Papyrus?” Alphy’s voice quivered, both looking up at him in worry and fear. 

“...n-... now, hold on…” He cursed in his mind, his legs continuously moving them back as he looked around before looking to the now large Canine who was snarling. 

“Who th’FUCK tossed WHAT?!” The Canine roared. “Yer DEAD!”

“go, go-... jus’ go-!” Papyrus was quick to tear them both from his legs, pushing and shoving them to move, to run. “head back home, get home- fuck!!” 

Papyrus once again grabbed both of them by the backs of their shirts, yanking them behind him as the Monster had fully jumped and almost crushed them in his landing, blocking their paths to escape. 

The two elder monsters stared at the other, Papyrus’ eyes inverted to black with his pupils glowing harsh in his ember coloring as his own snarl came while the Canine looked at them all… His glare glided over Papyrus and down to the two smaller ones, before a devious smile came on his lips. 

“...What do we have here?...” The Canine smiled eerily, sniffing the air before he began to chuckle darkly. “three kids in stripes?... aw, kiddos, y’know startin’ shit ya can’t finish means you’ll go to the Royalty for punishment… Riiiiiiight~?”

“... we didn’ mean no harm, was practicin’ on th’flowers…” Papyrus bit back, trying to sound strong, but it was so weak, his voice cracking that seasoned Monsters could hear it. 

“Yeah, it’s not our fault you look like a hives ass!” Sans growled, bristling to the Canine. “Who the hell sleeps in a field of Red echos!? Of course, if--”

Quicker than lightning, Papyrus shoved him and Alphy’s both farther behind him, snapping at his younger brother to shut up. Once he looked back, the Canine had a spark in his eye that put Papyrus on edge.

“...Oh, feisty, are we?” They spoke with a sickening deep voice. “...How ‘bout I take ya somewhere instead… Teach ya all a fuckin’ lesson in not ta disrespect yer elders!”

“I’d like to see you try, ya overgrown hairball! I’ll take you on!” Sans growled, literally trying to shove his way in front of Papyrus. 

“Sans, shut th’fuck up!” Papyrus growled under his breath as he watched Alphy’s cover Sans mouth with both hands. Looking back to the canine as he spoke again,  “Look, buddy, no need fer tha-”

Papyrus was grabbed by the front of his sweater, issuing a yelp that cut off his sentence as he was pulled nasal ridge to Canine nose with the other monster. A dark and sinister snarl, as rage filled eyes peered down at Papyrus. 

After a while he scoffed at the teen, the rage that had been there lessened to something akin to annoyance. “Damn, kids these days can’t even understand a lick o’ manners… fuckin’ useless bag o’magic reserves... ” 

Papyrus started squirmed, taking his claws and trying to dig into the creatures flesh; but was stopped by the next bit of words from the Canine. 

“Y’know… Th’ Ringers will teach ya lil’shit eaters some good manners...” He pointed to Sans with a sickening smile. “You, especially…” 

“no-!” Papyrus growled, his eyes now filling with his own anger. “don’t you fucking dare-”

“Or what? Piss off before I dust you.” The canine tossed Papyrus to the side and out of his way. “Yer so fuckin’ weak, it’d be too easy ta kill ya… Don’t worry, Kid… I’ll take these burdens off yer claws instead… C’mere, Kids.” Moving towards Sans and Alphys as if he was doing Papyrus a favor. 

Sans stood in front of Alphy’s, his own rage in his eyelights as he tried to protect his sister. “What makes you think we’ll go with you, asshole?! Don’t you know who we are!? How ignorant of you to--”

The Canine began to laugh hard and heartily, interrupting Sans from his triad of words, just as Papyrus was once again seeing black spots in his vision. His focus became hazy yet again as he struggled getting up onto his feet. 

“You are the Adoptee of a fucking Guardsman! Of Course, your Royal Highness,” the Canine said mocklingly, “oh how could one fucking forget who YOU are?...” The canine suddenly grabbed them both in his massive clawed hands, amusement crossing his features as they tried to escape. “Ringers would pay a hearty price for such a kid like you…,” his eyes glancing over to Alphys with a sickening and disturbing look, “While she look’s like she'd make a wonderful Toy if taught right…” 

Alphy let a small shriek out as she was squeezed tighter, only to gain a breath as the canine eased up. “Oh, she squeaks… That’s perfect.” he purred as he once again squeezed her a bit tighter hoping to hear that pleasant squeak sound, desperately wanting to hear again. 

Papyrus was dazed, but trying his hardest to shake off whatever was plaguing him. He could only stare as his siblings were in the hands of the Beast… His words were mumbled, but the word ‘Ringer’ came loud and clear… 

Instantly, Papyrus could feel himself boil with rage, with disgust, with a power he hasn’t felt since That Time… In the back of his skull, he could hear His Voice… Encouraging… 

His siblings calling for help, their cries of his names, were fading…

                             All the while His Voice started Drowning him. 

                                                    Suddenly, 

                                             Papyrus was Back

                                              Back In Hell

“That’s A Good Boy. Thrive In That Feeling…”

                                                                    “It Feels Wonderful, Doesn’t It?...”

               “Oh, Yes… The Burst Of LV. 

                                    Don’t Worry, It Only Hurts For The First Couple Of Times.”

                                                                         “It’s Quite Addictive, Isn’t It?”

       “Yes, Good… Kill…”

                                                             “...Kill…”

                                                                                                 “... KI LL…”

                                           “KILL THEM ALL!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Sans watched in hidden horror as he kept trying to use any tactic he could to get free from the claws which wrapped around him and Alphy. His hands still had no claws, so he couldn’t scratch. He could feel the Beast squeezing his ribcage, almost cracking it before he went and chomped down on the flesh, finally grateful his fangs were being put to use. 

...But to a price, he saw. 

“GRAWWWH!! You fuckin’ lil’ BASTARD!” The Canine roared, taking Sans and slamming him down on the ground, issuing a fracture as he was dazed. “Don’t fuckin’ bite or next time I might dust ya!” 

“S-stop! Leave him alone!” Alphy screamed, trying all her might to use her own dull claws to dig into his flesh to no avail, turning to try and bashing on his hand with her fists, tears streaming down her face. 

“Ah, shuddup, Kid.” The Canine said, before apparently an idea came to them.

He grounded Sans under his foot to keep him in place, as he looked at Alphy with his full attention. “Ya know… Toys don’t move their arms… Think I’ll go ahead and just-” He sickeningly smiled as he grabbed Alphy’s arm, her tear soaked face shocked…

Her scream ruptured through the whole Waterfall as he had simply twisted her arm with ease, continuing until her arm turned and twisted in an unnatural way. 

“There…” he cooed, “now th’other one… I should still get a good deal outta you, especially…” The Canine said, taking her other arm with amusement, pulling it out-

And then howled in pain yet again! Looking downward as he felt-

“You--” He snarled at Sans, who had sunk his teeth once more into the flesh of the Beast. This time in his foot. “Oh-... Hohoho… Alright, let's see how much fight you have after I rip them fangs out...” He stomped once more on Sans, making him gasp and his ribcage cracked under his pressure, before quickly taking a fang and yanking it out. 

Sans let out a loud scream, his sockets wide now in horror as he watched his fang turn to dust right before him, squirming to stay away as the Canines hand came back and forcefully grabbed another one.

“...Two…” Another harsh yank, another scream-

“Three- GHK!” 

The Canine stumbled backwards, Sans watched as something warm decorated his face. Lifting his head, trying to see what was going on, Sans froze in utter terror...

There was his older Brother; Papyrus, his claws seemed longer and now soaked in blood and dust as he practically staggered almost twitchingly. But that wasn’t what put the horror on his younger brother's face, no… 

The face Papyrus was making was absolutely terrifying; Mixed with his sockets wide, his fangs stretched into a large smile, his eyelights almost spun like multiple discs within. They were thin, but the speed made it look like he was looking everywhere at once, and when he looked at Sans… He swore, for a split moment, his own brother would kill him. 

Tears streamed down the young Monsters face as his older sibling walked closer and closer… Sans rib cage was cracked in a way that as he took a breath in, his mouth was covered in copper. A pained noise came from him, issuing his sockets to close tight. 

He could hear his brothers lazy shuffle come, and for once dreaded him coming near.

‘It’s a nightmare!’ Sans thought, even if the pain was far too real for his liking. ‘It’s a nightmare, a nightmare! Just open your sockets, open your eyes, open your eyes, dammit! This isn’t real!’ The noise of the steps got louder and louder… Until they stopped.

Right beside him, Sans could practically smell the wave of copper and his brother's presence right next to him. Sans shook, but tried to lay still… If he moved, he feared that would be the last move he’d make. He doesn’t even know if he could move his arms since the pain of his torso was practically killing him.

The next noise he heard was Alphy’s terrified shrill with the Canines pained howl.

Sans sockets opened quickly as he tried to turn his head to her. What he saw made him gape…

Papyrus had somehow moved without a noise; He moved and tore off the Canines arm that held Alphy seemingly with no issue at all! It even looked like a clean cut. 

Keeping a hold of the dusting arm; he tore into it until Alphy’s was completely free of the offending Canines claws. Scooping her out gently, keeping her close to his chest as she curled up and began to cry into him. Her little body covered in blood, shaking from the trauma of it all. Papyrus just as equally; if not more so; covered in blood. Looking down on the Canine with the intent to kill in his eyelights. 

                             “...You… Deserve… N O… M E R C Y…” 

His voice sounding eerie, something that-

Sans wasn’t sure whose voice that was, but he stared as his brother went after the Canine, who at this point was trying to flee. 

“W-...” Sans sockets prickled once more as he watched his brother dart after the Canine. “W-WAIT! DON’T LEAVE ME! 

PAPYRUS!!” 

                                           To Be Continued...

Writers Notes;

I want to do a special shoutout to my wonderful friend @crowsworks for helping me out MAJORLY making it a lot more creepy and more intimidating that it was originally!!! She added in the spice I couldn’t pinpoint what was missing, helping editing it to where it flowed much better than how it did! 

So to her; I owe a ton because without some help, I wouldn’t have had the drive to push for this to be posted! Thank you so much, Crow!!! 

If you guys haven’t yet; Go read her stuff on Ao3! 

[donghyuwus]

Haechan | Trip to Trouble Pt.1

pairing: haechan x fem!reader

genre: thriller, mystery, adventure, action, drama, crime, fluff, angst and light smut (most of these will apear in future parts)

warnings: mention of alcohol addiction, blood, murder, guns and i know it is a sensitive topic right now but the y/n person is a cop, don’t worry i stand by acab (bastards not bad) but i just had to do it for this one to fit it in the story line

words: 2221

summary: this train ride usually consisted of the same people, same events and same routine. however this time it was different. you get the choice to do something that will affect one person on this train and won’t affect you, in return a whole load of cash? easy right. little did you know what you were getting yourself into.

disclaimer: english is not my first language so sorry for my spelling or grammar mistakes, i tried my best. + this is based on the movie the commuter :)

Chaos. People running in all sorts of directions, some on the phone, others looking over at the big digital screens in the air to see where there next train departs from. People of all sorts of ages. Young couples probably going on a romantic trip, students who need to get to their colleges, families with little children going on a nice trip or vacation and elders looking for some adventure in their old days. Your breathing was making an obnoxiously loud sound as you were almost running, hurrying to the perron your train was waiting for you. It was one of those days were you would leave for work on the other side of the city and would come back maybe a couple of weeks later. To be completely honest with yourself, you despised your job, everything about it made you mentally and physically sick. From the long travel, being away from home for such long hours ‘till the misogynistic men who would command you around and make sickening comments and jokes about ‘the females’. However you didn’t have much of a choice. Living alone with your mom who wasn’t in the right mental state to work and a little brother who is still too young to and is trying his hardest studying to achieve his dream to become a doctor, left you no other choice but to find the most high paying job you were able to get into.

That same job was the reason why you were hurrying as fast as you could right now, bumping into strangers here and there and mumbling a quick ‘sorry’ while pacing along. Only a few more steps. The staff member of the train was already putting the flute into his mouth, ready to signal that they would leave, when you passed him into the train. And there was the whistle. The doors closed and you went ahead and searched for your place in the train. Usually you would sit next to a window. That was one of the good things about this trip, the scenery you passed was absolutely gorgeous and a great distraction from your thoughts. Lucky for you there was still a two-seated place left. You sat yourself down on the ugly blue seating after placing your bag in the little storage above it. Already feeling hot because of the hurrying you took off your long brown jacket, one of the more fancy clothing pieces you owned and put it on the seat next to you. You weren’t expecting anyone to sit next to you anyways, nobody really ever did unless the train was really full. However today looked like a rather peaceful day for the ride to the other side.

Letting out a content sigh because you made it in time and you now had time to relax, you sat backwards and craned your neck to look at the other passengers, checking if the same people as normal were there. By now you took this train so many times you knew almost everybody’s name, where they got off and what their favourite lunch break was. The last part made you embarrassed. Let’s just say you liked watching people when you were bored, not in the creepy way of course. You just found them interesting, it always fascinated you how everyone truly has their own life and their own intentions, a family, jobs, beliefs and dreams. So today you started looking around again. On the left side of you, the other side of the ail, sat Lucy. A middle-aged woman, slick black hair, most of the times in a ponytail except if she was running late and in a rush. Usually she would be typing away on her laptop or she was on the phone with what you assumed her kids, since she always talked in such a loving and motherly way to the person on the other side of the line. Sitting in front of her was the elderly man you absolutely adored. You didn’t find out his name yet, but you found him a George so to you he was named George. George would mostly read some newspapers and play sudoku here and there. He loved his granola bars as he eats about 3 in only 1 hour. Honestly you were doubting if it was healthy, you should search that up later. Next to George was an elderly lady, you did know her name since she was quite the speaker and introduced herself sometime in the past to you and every train ride would have small talk with everyone she could. Her name was Lilith, the most loving lady you ever saw. You knew she was old because she had told you her age but honestly you couldn’t really tell, her beautiful black skin barely having wrinkles and her smile making her seem 20 years younger and let me tell you, she smiled a lot. She especially smiled a lot at George. Deep down you hoped they would end up together, you knew Lilith was single after all.

But the most interesting person was seated in front of you. Well not directly like George with Lucy, they were seated on a 4-seat area, you were on the 2-seat area. But he was though and he was facing your way. You could see him through the little line between the two seats in front of you, sitting at your left, the seat away from the window. He had dark brown hair, lighter brown highlights going through them, it would usually hang over his forehead and sometimes even over his eyes when he looked down. Speaking about eyes, he did look in your way a few times but usually you would look away real quick, embarrassed. The few seconds you did see his eyes though you noticed how interesting and beautiful of a shape they had and how childish they looked in a way. Usually he would either be playing a game on his phone or napping, which got him to miss his stop a few times. It would make a lot of curse words come out of him, which would make you giggle and make Lilith give the young boy a lesson about the meaning of curse words and how they are not the way to go. It was one of the only times you heard his voice. Except for the rare times he would have his earphones plugged in and he would quietly be seeing along to the lyrics of the song that he was listening to. The first time it happened it completely caught you off guard, it was rather quiet in the train, the only thing being heard was the typing of Lucy on her laptop and George and Lilith quietly whispering to each other while the rain was ticking against the windows. That’s when you heard the most unique and beautiful sounding voice sing along to a song you never heard of before but immediately googled as soon as you had access to Wi-Fi. You didn’t dare to look at him even once, afraid that if he would notice you were listening and he would stop. So you kept quiet, closed your eyes and laid your head against the window while his voice mixed in with the rain, soothing you and making you drift off into a slumber. That was the first time you missed your stop and was late for work.

Today he was back at playing his game, his tanned fingers clicking here and there, his hair covering his concentrated face while his tongue was sticking out of his mouth slightly. You were about to take off your jacket because you noticed how hot you were again, when you noticed you had already done that. That is.. strange. You shook the feeling off and decided to just stare out of the window, maybe that would cool you down. The sound of the door of the compartment opening and closing in the background as you looked at the outside world zooming by you, it was probably the conductor checking for tickets. You felt in your right pocket of your jeans to make sure your ticket was there and it was, so you got back to relaxing. The sound of heels ticking against the floor, it made you think of your mom when she would go out to a bar, already quite wasted before even leaving the house. A shiver went down your spine thinking about the memory. You despised the sound more than anything, so you couldn’t be happier when it had stopped.

‘Mind if I sit here?’ Startled you turned your head to look at the tall and stunning woman standing next to the seat your jacket was lying down on. She gave you the brightest smile you had ever seen except for Lilith’s and you couldn’t help but nod in confusion as you took the jacket of the stool and instead placed it on your lap. Quietly she sat down and it stayed quiet for a few more minutes. She probably just wanted some peace and quiet, that’s why she maybe came to this compartment. This was one of the more quiet ones, the others either consisted of business people or teenagers. So you decided to give her that peace and quiet and stared outside the window again. ‘My name is Savannah. Nice to meet you.’ Even more startled then the first time you turned around to look at her and the hand she extended for you to shake. Which you did, while greeting her back. ‘Nice to meet you Savannah, I’m Y/N.’ Again she smiled as brightly as ever. ‘So, what brings you on this train today, y/n?’ Her hand went through her short and curly, blonde hair. ‘Work.’ You smiled sadly. She noticed. ‘You don’t like your work?’ Were you really going to explain that to this stranger you just met? ‘Not really, long story. What about you? What brings you here?’ You decided to keep it simple and switch the spotlight on her. ‘Same as you.’ But she seemed happy saying it. ‘I work in a social and psychological field.’ She answered a question you never asked, however you still nodded, actually quite interested, there was something about this woman that you couldn’t place your finger on. ‘I study people and their behaviour. While doing that I mostly ask one question.’ A pause, her eyes piercing trough yours, like they were waiting on something. It was almost uncomfortable. ‘And that question is?’ You decided to ask so she continued on with her story. ‘What kind of person are you?’ Another nod from your side, this time more confused. Suddenly she scooted a little closer and looked out the window for a quick second before bringing her glance back to you. ‘Let’s do an experiment! Let’s say.. hypothetically I asked you to do something that affects someone in this train but doesn’t have any effect on you.’ ‘And what do I have to do?’ ‘It’s simple. There is a person on this train who doesn’t belong here and has something they shouldn’t have. They are carrying a bag, you don’t know what it looks like. The only thing you have to do is find them.’ Your confusion grew even bigger. ‘Why would I do that?’ A chuckle escaped her lips. ‘There is a reward in return.’ ‘What kind of reward?’ Her blue eyes scanned around the room, trying to find a person who heard you being a bit too loud while asking that question. After finding no one her face came even closer to yours. ‘In the bathroom in the second wagon is 75 thousand dollars. The money is yours if you do that one little thing.’ You blinked once, twice. ‘You said hypothetically.’ ‘One little thing, nothing more. You only have to find them.’ ‘Nothing more?’ ‘Nothing more.’ You bit your lip. Was this some sort of prank? A few minutes ago you didn’t even know of the existence of this woman and now she was offering you to find this person in exchange for so much money. If you had been in the right mind you would have said no to such a dumb offer, what were they going to do with that person either way and how would you even find them, would there even be money? But it still sounded attempting, very even. You could pay for your brothers college and maybe even move out with him, to a save and better place for him to grow up. You could maybe even find another job. Very tempting. You could just check the bathroom and see if she was right, if so you could just take the money and go and never come back and if she was lying you could just go on with your day and have a new experience with a crazy lady in your memory frame.

The speakers announced that it had arrived at one of the stops. Savannah got up. ‘Looks like it’s my stop. You have until the next stop to decide. Don’t tell anyone about this deal or there will be consequences.’ She walked off but halted before the doors of the compartment and turned around to ask you the question one more time.

‘What kind of person are you?’

[thethousandyearwitch]

Guilt Edged Frame

“Dreams don’t mean anything, Hidan, they are just your tiny brain trying to process what you did the previous day.” Of course, he would dream that night. Hidans idiocy must really be contagious.

--Short exploration of what kind of Nightmares might be haunting Kakuzu--

~The Kakuzu Angst fic of your dreams~ ,  1465 Words, Single Chapter, Angst / No Comfort

AO3 Link 

“’Kuzu, I had a really weird dream, listen to this-“Hidans voice distracted Kakuzu briefly from wincing at the terrible quality of their complementary coffee that the Inn offered, though he only replied with a low grumble at the back of his throat.

“So, I was at the beach, and for some reason I started walking into the water, which, like, I don’t even fucking like swimming.”

“Mh.” He thought about anything else he could do instead of humouring his partners need for conversation.

“But get this: Instead of like, swimming, I just continued walking along the bottom of the ocean, as if there wasn’t even any water. And the deeper I went, the more I started seeing corpses tied to big rocks and concrete slabs.” Kakuzu idly tried to recall if he had ever seen that kind of disposal. It would certainly shut Hidan up for a while. But alas, he had neither rope, nor large rock, nor a deep enough body of water, and the shorter man continued. “It was super gross, some of them were like getting nibbled on by fishes, and they were all bloated. And when I tried to touch one of them, suddenly all of their eyes and necks snapped in my direction with a loud CRACK-“ As he banged on the table to emphasize, the few other patrons of the Inn turned with a startle.

The older one of the pair pushed his chair back, hissed a quick “We’re leaving.” before discarding his cup, headed for the exit. They had a good amount of distance to clear today, and he doubted that they could continue sitting there in peace now that Hidan drew increasing attention with his rambling. The morning sun greedily sunk into the exposed parts of Kakuzus face, and he allowed himself a brief moment to close his eyes and take the warmth in. Something about the sounds and smells of this village carried a familiar feeling with it. Children playing games that been passed on from generation to generation, giggling with ecstasy. A nearby shop selling local spices, a particular one that Kakuzu couldn’t quite place, sweet and yet with a spicy punch-

The moment of peace was over as a flat palm patted against his shoulder. “Are you falling asleep standing up, old man?”

“I was pondering if its worth a try to dispose of you via stone slab in a lake.” They fell into a comfortable walking pace next to each other, headed for the thickening forest to the south.

“You don’t think those could have been other jashinists, do you? Doomed to become the fish-equivalent of a saltlick.”

The pair passed a group of four young women huddled together on a bench, eyeing Hidan and whispering amongst each other. The younger man winked at them with his signature shit-eating grin, and the group broke out into a mixture of giggles and ‘No way~’s. Kakuzu rolled his eyes so hard that for a second he was sure they’d snap back into his skull entirely.

“When I was a kid, there were always some girls who claimed they could analyse your dreams. Same bitches who’d ask about your star sign and blood type before laughing and saying shit like ‘Oh I totally knew it, that’s such an Aries thing~’” Hidan flapped his hand around in crude mockery of any teenage girl ever. Kakuzu couldn’t repress a dark chuckle forcing itself through his vocal cords. Some things never change, including some peoples craving to have special psychic abilities. “Maybe I should have stopped to ask them what my dream last night meant.”

“Dreams don’t mean anything, Hidan, they are just your tiny brain trying to process what you did the previous day.”

“Don’t be such a pretentious cunt! I’m sure you dream of diving into a pool of money every night.” Particularly proud of that one, he flashed a self-satisfied grin at his partner.

And Kakuzu left it at that, willing to let Hidan uphold that childish belief if it meant he’d finally shut up.

He’d been alive for too long now to be occupied with something as meaningless as his brains idle thought processing. Most his nights were a dreamless unconsciousness that could occasionally be considered ‘resting’, and he preferred it this way. No distractions, no unnecessary ‘dream analysis’, just a cold dark embrace.

 -------------------------------

Of course, he would dream that night. Hidans idiocy must really be contagious.

Kakuzu was back home in Takigakure, on a beautiful sunny morning. He could smell the fish market not far from where he stood, and the natural high moisture in the air felt refreshing. His skin was still intact, only minor scarring here and there, childhood memories that are meant to mark you, meant to remind you of an innocent time. There was no cracking of bones or resistance of hardened skin when he moved, careful steps through the alleys he grew up in.

Passing a window, Kakuzu glanced at his reflection. Youthful eyes, and dark brown hair that was starting to brush over his shoulders. His fingers run gently over his cheeks to the corners of his mouth, as if something were missing, but he couldn’t quite place what.  

A group of children, 10 years old at the most, run past him with excited shouts and laughs. If he were to concentrate, maybe he could recall their names lingering at the tip of his tongue.

The young boy wants to follow them, as if he knew what got them excited, but he stumbles and falls and his hands burry themselves in the wet mud – The sun was just shining, why is there suddenly hard rain beating down on him? Fresh tattoos on his arm sting under contact with the rain, and he knows where he got them, suddenly remembers solitary and imprisonment and the older man who wielded the unsanitary make-shift tattoo equipment.

Lightning flashes and Kakuzu doesn’t need to look to know that blood and mud are mixing on his arms. His wet hair, now easily reaching the bottom of his shoulder blades in length, clings uncomfortably to his skin. He feels like he’s boiling alive, can feel sutures manifesting where they didn’t exist before, a phantom needle pricking along his arms and chest. It’s not mending broken skin, not trying to close festering wounds. It’s opening gateways for the bubbling heat under his skin.

Another lighting flash. His right fist is no longer buried in mud. Instead, it holds a steady grasp around a still beating heart, warm, intact, alive. He’s still at home in Takigakure but he knows it rejects him. The owner of the beating heart is a village elder who the man used to look up to, but now he’s looking down at the choking form, his last words for Kakuzus ears only, curses and banishment.

But the old man doesn’t die. His airways are flooded with his own blood, but he grabs Kakuzus neck with a strength he somehow knows he can’t overpower. He’s flipped into the mud, fist still clenched around the others beating heart, but it won’t yield. Despite the loud rain, and his own heart beating like a drum in his ears, he can hear the old mans voice crystal clear.

“Hashirama Senju should have killed you.”

His fingers grow numb.

“You could have died a hero’s death. You would have died for the village, fought till the end.”

The pressure on his windpipe increases, and his vision blurs.

“But you returned a failure. A disgusting nobody.”

His arms drop to his sides, cold and numb.

“Forever.”

 -----------------------------

Kakuzu startled awake with a gasp. His hair stuck to his forehead with cold sweat as he sat up, hands ghosting over where he had just been choked. It took a couple of deep breaths before he had regained his orientation. Rundown Inn in a Village of maybe a hundred people if he was being generous, he is a member of the Akatsuki, he’s lying in the hardest bed he has ever slept in, and Hidan is on the couch-

Hidan was on the couch, staring directly at him, eyes blown wide as if he had just witnessed the coming of whatever that ridiculous god he believed in was.

Their eye contact was long, uncomfortable, and made Kakuzus twitching fingers increasingly long to tear the other man to shreds. His partner gave him a slow nod with a questionable look, which he returned wordlessly, before he laid back down, turned away.

He didn’t get another second of sleep that night, opting instead to bite the inside of his cheek raw and thinking about various ways to silence Hidan if he dared to speak a word about what he may have seen. Maybe investing in rope wasn’t such a foolish idea.

[roronoasanjii]

I thought it was a shame to just leave this in a folder and never do anything with it so here’s an old Critical Role fic idea I came up with. It’s only written like notes but I still really like it.

Hope you enjoy!

Caleb is in the witness protection scheme. He killed his parents when he was younger (thirteen) and they sent him away and changed his name to protect him after he spent a couple of years in a mental health facility. He came out the other side of it feeling better than he did, but still majorly suffering from depression.

Caleb is an orphan, through his own doing, and none of his family wanted anything to do with him so he is now in foster care.

He has a deep British-German mix accent.

He attends the same high school as the gang, having being enrolled there when he left the mental health facility and came to live at the group home. He struggled to make friends out of fear of anyone knowing who he was, but he comes to be friends with a guy called Mollymauk in his classes who then further introduces him to the rest of the gang.

Caleb hasn't been fostered when we first meet him, he's still in a group home which he hates, and the gang notice this so they try as much as possible to keep Caleb away from there by inviting him out, or round to their houses.

At some point Caleb is fostered and the gang immediately notice that he seems different; he's barely said anything to any of them since they arrived at school. Molly is sent over to talk because they're not stupid; they know that Caleb seems to be at his calmest around Molly.

Caleb tells Molly what's happening and he offers reassurance, telling Caleb that at least this means he's going to get out of the group home

Caleb is fostered by a woman called Veth. At first glance, it's obvious that this woman is overly keen about the prospect of having a child, despite the fact that Caleb is anything but, now seventeen.

Caleb notices how out of touch with society Veth is, but not from her own doing. People look at her and judge heavily for reasons that he can't fathom, but it happens quite regularly.

He hears crying one night and tiptoes down the stairs to hear Veth talking in the kitchen quietly to herself. Caleb overhears her talking about a son and a husband, which he realises are the missing pieces in this house that should be there but aren't. It's also pretty clear that she's been on her own until she fostered Caleb.

Caleb isn't stupid. He sees the link between the clearly grieving broken mother who needs a replacement for the child she lost and him. Caleb believes there's nothing more to it which doesn't help him feel more at home, instead doing the exact opposite because he doesn't know who she wants him to be.

Veth tries her hardest and makes sure to try and allow Caleb to feel safe in the house, but he still struggles with the balance of it all and the sheer amount of changes in his life of late. Upon noticing this, Veth asks him if he's okay and manages to wriggle out of him the fact that he overheard her in the kitchen. She puts two and two together and correctly guesses that he thinks he's a replacement.

His accent slips, falling away in his fear.

"Luke was my child, and I love him... But you are not Luke."

Caleb feels like this is it, this is the moment when he gets sent back to the group home again, he's blown it already because he dared to even compare himself to Veth’s own flesh and blood son. Caleb kicks himself for being so stupid, but Veth isn't finished.

"I fostered you because you are a kind young man with a bright future ahead of him that just needed someone in his life who cared. You're not a replacement and you were never meant to be one. I don't want you to be Luke; I just want you to be Caleb."

Caleb nods and accepts a hug from Veth when she offers him one. She has noticed the change in accent.

"Is that German?"

"Yes." He clears his throat. "I'm uh, I'm German. My parents moved here when I was very young."

"So why where you doing that accent?"

"I think we're both a little scared of what people would say to us. I learnt quickly that children are unkind, the others at school would tease me and call me horrible names, and then my parents… passed away and I went into the system. No one wanted to foster some weird German kid, and I hated myself so I changed my accent trying to make myself a different person. I wanted to be anyone else but me, but I couldn't.”

Veth strokes a hand down his cheek and smiles.

"Like I said, I just want you to be Caleb. You can speak however you like here."

"It's just, strange, you know, after all this time."

"Well whatever you come to decide, it will sound lovely either way."

The two become closer after this.

Veth and Caleb do something together that he really ends up enjoying. Veth comments that it's the first time she's seen him smile, which only makes Caleb smile more, because it's true, he truly had a good time. But that only just makes Caleb head worse because now the thoughts come back about how he doesn't deserve to be happy because of what he did.

He starts to isolate himself which scares Veth, and he barely talks to her. She becomes more and more worried about him until she calls his social worker to ask for advice.

When Caleb returns home from school to see his social worker's car parked outside he immediately becomes panicked. Going inside confirms the sight of his social worker and that's when he immediately feels betrayed. He thought things were going well with Veth and he was seriously trying his hardest to make it all work but now she's abandoning him just like everyone else.

Caleb runs off, unaware of the actual reasoning behind the visit and Veth panics. Her and the social worker rush to try and find him, which Veth eventually does. He's covered in mud and soaked through when she comes across him, curled up under a tree and sobbing. She pulls him into a huge hug and she fusses about how he's silly for running away and how he could have gotten hurt, or pneumonia, or worse and Caleb feels so much guilt in that moment because he remembers their conversation about Luke.

Veth lost her husband and child in a way that left her feeling useless because how they died was out of her control. There's nothing she could have done to save them because she wasn't even there when it happened, she found out afterwards when they had already passed.

Caleb connects the dots to realise that a lot of Veth's responses to things he does probably stem from never wanting to lose someone ever again if she has a way of preventing it. So when he walks home in the dark, if anything happened to him she would always know that she could very easily have gone and picked him up if she'd known, or when he runs off without any warning that anything could happen to him and she wouldn't know before it was too late, exactly like Luke and her husband.

Veth tells him that there is nothing that would ever make her give him up. Ever. Caleb nods, feeling a little better, but ultimately knowing that if she knew the truth, she would get rid of him in a heartbeat. He makes a pact with himself to stop unintentionally giving Veth a heart attack by accepting her offers on things such as lifts because it clearly gives her peace of mind.

At one point the gang notice bandages or bracelets, or just a slip of Caleb’s sleeves that reveal scars on his arms. They immediately presume the worse and panic. They try talking to him about it which doesn't go well at all. Caleb leaves the school and walks all the way home in the rain in his big brown coat and scarf that Veth bought him - his most treasured possessions along with the books that she has gotten him too.

When Veth gets home she knows something is wrong and asks if Caleb wants to talk about it. Caleb declines but Veth sorta’ doubles down saying that she really needs to know because she's worried. In a moment of bravery, Caleb pulls up his sleeve to reveal the scars on his arm and rope marks on his wrist.

Caleb tells her that he didn't do this but then nicely asks her to not ask any more questions than that, which she reluctantly agrees. She then takes out her tablet and starts tapping away. When Caleb asks what she's doing, Veth is looking for ways in which he can cover them up because she can see how much they upset Caleb to look at. Caleb is overcome with a feeling of love due to how just genuinely lovely she is. He thinks he doesn't deserve her.

Veth tells Caleb, who's in his room feeling shitty, that she has a surprise for him. Caleb is curious as Veth pushes open the door a little more to reveal, a cat. Apparently Veth adopted her for Caleb, hoping she might help him when he's feeling down or upset.

Caleb falls head over fucking heels in love with this cat immediately, naming her Frumpkin for no particular reason other than he can. The two become practically inseparable.

On the anniversary of the murders there is a news report which plays on TV, Caleb is at somebody's house when it does and he just immediately panics because he hears everything and it makes him feel sick to the point where he sprints to the bathroom and pukes heavily and violently, breaking down in sobs. Molly comes to the bathroom to check on him and they talk, Caleb doesn't admit anything and Molly doesn't push him to, admitting that this can stay between them and the others don't have to know so they don't start questioning him.

Caleb goes home, stating not feeling well as his reason for leaving early. He walks back, which Veth once again tells him off for, pointing out that its black dark outside and anything could've happened to him. She rants at him in a mother-henning way for a couple of minutes before taking a breath and pulling him into a hug. That's when Caleb breaks down in apologies, begging Veth not to get rid of him.

Veth cements the fact that she will never do that, but states that she thinks it's time that he tells her what's really going on in that head of his. Caleb tells her that he can't, but as she progressively looks more and more hurt by feeling like a bad parent and shut out by him, Caleb eventually caves.

"My name was Bren Aldric Ermendrud."

Caleb tells her about how they put him in a mental health facility for a few years, and the older woman helped him. This woman asked Caleb what he was in for and in his absolute lowest state, tells her the truth of what happened, admitting that he was groomed to do it by a man named Trent Ikithon who lied to him about so many things. The woman, being the first and only person he has ever opened to about it, tells Caleb that he was only young when it happened, and that it wasn’t his fault. Yes he may have committed the act, but he wasn't in the right headspace, and was made to do it by an adult. This led to Caleb feeling a little better for the first time and her encouragement for him to accept therapy didn't fall on deaf ears with Caleb doing exactly that meaning that he ended up being discharged early.

Caleb tells Veth everything and feels sick once again after doing so, not able to look her in the eye. There is silence in the living room of the house for a painful amount of time before Veth just smushes him into an absolutely enormous hug and tells him firmly that the woman in the facility was right, it wasn't his fault, and that the true blame lies in the hands of Trent.

Veth puts two and two together with the scars, which Caleb admits is true, Trent did that to him. She asks him what he’d like to be called, and he states that he still wishes to be known as Caleb

After this, the two only become stronger, their bond growing as does their protectiveness of one-another.

Caleb and Molly's relationship grows too as they become strong friends, Molly looking out for him on days when he really needed a friend. All is going well until Caleb arrives at school one morning to a tense, horrible atmosphere.

There are a lot of tearful looking eyes and sad faces. Caleb, confused and worried finds the gang to ask what's going over. He notices Molly's older brother, Caduceus from the year above.

"What happened?"

Jester deflates as she sighs, wordlessly pulls him into a hug. As he pulls away, Caleb notices the ostentatious missing member of their group.

"Where's Molly?"

Caduceus scrubs a shaky hand down his chin, clearing his throat.

"He uh… he died. Last night."

Caleb's breath catches in his throat as his hand flies to his mouth, shaking his head as tears come to his eyes.

"No…"

Caduceus pulls him close and hugs him, getting emotional himself.

"Everything was normal and ordinary until it wasn't. Molly coughed up blood, Mom took him to the hospital… and an hour later he was dead... just like that." Caduceus takes a breath to compose himself, clearing his throat once again. "Our Aunt is planning a memorial service, you guys are all invited. You don't have to do speeches and all that if you don't want to but the choice is yours. You know Molly; he would've loved all this fuss. No doubt he would have applauded the pageantry of it all."

"Oh." Caleb opens his satchel and takes out the large notebook Veth bought him. From the mess of papers and coursework handouts in the back he flicks through them until he arrives at a purple coloured sheet. "Here."

Caduceus takes the piece of paper, unfolding it.

"It's Molly's favourite poem, he uh, he wrote it out for me in English class because he said I was uncultured for having never experienced Yeats."

"Thanks, this is perfect for the memorial. Are you sure you don't want to keep this?"

"If you want it you can have it. If not, you can give it back to me at the end of the service, I don't mind which."

Caleb is unsurprisingly quiet after Molly's death. Veth looks after him, so does Frumpkin, the ginger tabby having become accustomed to lying across Caleb's shoulders, tail hanging down over his chest.

As if she knew of his sadness, Frumpkin made sure to stay close, never leaving Caleb's sight when she felt he might need her.

The gang all attend the memorial. It is held in the local park Molly loved. A thin layer of snow had fallen that morning providing a beautiful backdrop. Beside the purple flower beds, a large tree branch had been stabbed into the ground, Molly's eccentric coat draped over it, blowing gently in the wind.

Caleb doesn't make a speech and he feels like a traitor for not being able to man enough to do it, but he feels a hand reach close and take hold of his own with a gentle squeeze. Beau. She had been a godsend in the past week or so since Molly's death.

Despite the fact that they famously didn't really seem to ever get on at high school, Beau had gone above and beyond to make sure he was okay, offering him someone to talk to, and being there for him when he just needed to let it all out.

After the memorial, Caleb struggles with both the finality of saying goodbye to Molly and the sight of the flames from the barbecue set up to serve food, the scent causing him to gag a little as he walks off through the park to the tree Molly used to read beside. Caduceus follows him over.

"You doing okay, Mr. Caleb?"

"Why do you call me that?"

"I don't know. You've always been quite an enigma so it seemed fitting, plus, I know irritates you so there's that too." Caduceus answered with a smirk before offering a soft smile. "Molly wouldn't want you to be crying. Try and think about all the good times rather than the bad, that's how he'd want you to remember him."

"I know it is, it's just…"

"It's hard I know, but you're not alone in this, you have people who care about you, myself included. Don't think that you can't talk."

"Thanks, Cad."

He nods, clapping Caleb on the shoulder.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Caduceus reaches into his pocket and hands the contents to Caleb.

"What's this?"

"A letter from Molly and his tarot cards, he wanted you to have them. He was always talking about you being a little lost, maybe they just might help. I don't know... Molly was into this bullshit more than I was.” Caduceus smirks before walking back over to the other guests.

 Caleb takes a breath before opening the small folded piece of paper clearly from a hospital notepad. Clearing his throat he begins to read.

'Hey Cay,

I'm stuck in here puking my guts up and something tells me that it's not looking good for me. Fucking cards.

I haven't got much paper so be prepared for tiny handwriting, I'm sure you'll manage.

Anyway, the first thing I wanna say is, you're cute, and if I wasn't slowly internally bleeding to death then there's no doubt I wouldn't have tried wooing you eventually.

Second, stop being so afraid of everything and live your fucking life dude. It's feeling more and more like you're gonna' have to live it for the both of us so get out there and do shit. Kiss a girl, kiss a boy, tell Veth how much she means to you, get yourself adopted, accept more invites from the gang, get some therapy for that old noggin of yours, I don't know, just promise me you'll not block everyone out. That's what worries me most about potentially dying, you not going to the others for help because I'm not there anymore to come to you. Please, don't be alone.

I hope someday we'll meet each other again.

Take care of my brother for me.

Love,

Molly x'

Emotionally wrecked after the memorial and reading Molly's letter, Caleb actually calls Veth to get a lift home for once rather than just walking. Weirdly though, he doesn't get an answer, the phone just ringing and ringing. Finding that strange, Caleb grabs a ride from Fjord and Jester.

When he walks in, the light is on in the kitchen and Veth is sitting at the table holding a bag of peas to her face, one arm huddled proactively to her chest.

Caleb enters to see her covered in bruises, anger flaring immediately.

"Who did this?" He asks low and furious.

"Caleb, I'm fine."

"You're not fine, you're hurt. Someone did this to you and you need to tell me who that person is."

“It's just a bump."

“It's more than a bump! People treat you like you're below them and I hate it. They stare, they judge, they whisper shit, it's vile! You shouldn't have to deal with that.”

“That's my concern, not yours.”

“Why are you so calm about this, someone nearly broke your fucking arm. Get mad about this, get angry.”

“And what would that achieve?”

“I don't know, more than just sitting around waiting for the next person to hurt you.” He shouts before scrubbing a hand down his face, keeping his hand over his mouth as he shakes. “I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, I shouted and I didn't mean to… I'm sorry, I'm sorry.” His weak tone whimpers as he drops down to one of the seats around the table and cries.

“Caleb, it's okay.”

“It's not okay. Nothing is okay, everything's just shit and it makes me so angry sometimes, and it scares me. I don't want to be that person.”

Veth stands up from the table and walks round to Caleb, wrapping her good arm around him in a hug, gently resting her chin on the top of his head.

“What you are, is a sweet boy who cares about everyone and never wants to see anyone he loves hurt. That is a blessing not a curse. You have a big heart, Caleb, and that's a beautiful thing.”

After this point, Caleb stands up for Veth a lot more in situations where people are being awful towards her.

When one of Veth's brothers, Morrell visits, he patronisingly talks about how it's good that she now has Caleb to look after her.

"You know, Nottie, if you feel safer having Caleb protecting you, maybe you could start doing more, rather than just alternating between work and being in the house all day."

"I think there's a bit of misconception here. Caleb and I have a very special relationship. It is that of a parent and a child, regardless of the fact that he isn't technically mine. But I am the parent in this situation. It's my job to protect him. He's my boy, and I keep him safe. I want him to thrive, and get better at school, and grow into the wonderful young man I know he's going to be, because he can achieve great things.’ She takes a breath. ‘When I fostered him he was a scared little boy who was afraid to speak up out of fear of being hurt, and tried to act invisible in case one wrong move landed him back at the group home. As we have gotten more comfortable, he has gotten more comfortable and come out of his shell. It's my job to protect him, because I love him, and I am his parent. It is not his job to protect me."

Morrell nods.

"I'll admit; I had the wrong idea about the two of you. Caleb sounds like a good kid."

"He is." Veth nods. "He's going to be a great man someday."

"He will."

"Does he know that you think of him as a son?"

Veth shakes her head.

"Maybe you should let him know, it might make him feel a little better, especially after everything that's happened recently, he needs you more than ever."

"I'll talk to him."

Before she has the chance to do so, Caleb’s world gets shattered once again.

Caleb is looking around the house for Frumpkin. Unable to find him he goes outside to hear a pained meow from just beyond the driveway. There lies Frumpkin, who has clearly been hit by a car that hasn’t even stopped to check to see if she was okay.

Caleb panics at this point, bundling Frumpkin into his arms and grabbing his phone. He knows Veth is at work so he calls Fjord and Jester instead begging for their help. Jester stays on the phone with him to try and reassure him and keep him calm while the two of them drive over, pick Caleb up, and take him to the vets where they try and save her.

Long story short, the vets won’t operate on Frumpkin unless they are paid upfront for the medical costs, its company policy no matter how much they want to help the cat. The amount of money they would need is beyond substantial, and it’s money that a fucking orphaned foster kid like Caleb just doesn’t have, and he knows Veth doesn’t have it either so he refuses to ask, knowing that she’s already done too much for him anyway by just having to deal with his shit in the first place.

While Caleb is being comforted by Jester, Fjord discreetly calls Veth from Caleb’s phone (which he got Jester to sneakily swipe), and tells her what is happening. She rushes down to the vets to find Caleb in the back room of the vets sitting on top of the doctor’s table with Frumpkin curled up on his lap, hugging her gently.

Hating to see her boy so broken, she goes back to the vets in the lobby and begs them to accept a smaller down payment, even saying they can charge interest on the other payments too if they have to. The head vet, who seems to be the owner agrees and Veth partially pays.

A confused Caleb is practically dragged kicking and screaming from the backroom, desperate to be with Frumpkin, and Veth manages to get him calmed down, telling him that they’re going to try and save Frumpkin.

"What? But… how?"

"I paid them."

Caleb looks torn.

"No, you shouldn’t… you shouldn’t have done that, you don’t have the money and I can’t ask you to do that for me. It’s just a cat, I can get another one."

But Veth knows that’s not true. Caleb is too infatuated with that cat to ever think that way, he’s just trying to not take up space, something he has a history of being very good at.

"Frumpkin is your friend, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep her with us. Fuck the money, I can think of no better use for it then saving family."

Caleb looks stunned in that moment, wide eyed and astonished as he wordlessly wraps his arms tight around Veth.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

The vets manage to save Frumpkin and if he wasn’t already, Caleb becomes even more protective of her, making sure she’s okay after all her surgeries. When they’re allowed to take her home, Caleb is soft and kind with her, not letting her out of his sight.

On a lovely sunny day, Caleb decides that Frumpkin needs some fresh air. With the stitches gone and her feeling a lot better, they take a walk together slowly round the neighbourhood. Veth wasn't home when they left but there was a note from her on the counter saying that she would be back soon.

As they walk past the church, Caleb notices Veth knelt down beside a small grave in the graveyard with a book open on her lap. He debates on whether to just keep walking and let her have her privacy, but ultimately decides that she might someone with her.

As he approaches, Veth notices the two of them and smiles.

The grave is marked:

‘In loving memory of Luke Brenatto’

Caleb notices the lack of her husband's name.

"If it's none of my business just tell me to shut up, but why isn't your husband’s name on here too?"

Veth looks a little confused at first before she understands why Caleb would think the way he does.

"When Luke and Yeza were involved in that accident, neither were expected to live. It took a long time for the paramedics to arrive and even longer to get them out. Luke… he didn't make it, but they managed to get Yeza stabilised. The man I spoke to in that hospital wasn't my husband. He was cold as if a part of him had died with Luke, and it probably had. Yeza packed up and left after Luke's funeral and I've never heard from him since."

"That's awful."

"People deal with loss in different ways. Some grieve a little, some grieve a lot, and some just never get over it at all. Yeza was one of those people." Veth turns to look at the gravesite which has fresh flowers beside it as well as a weathered toy bear and various tealights in brightly coloured holders. "Every so often I come out here and I read to him. I know that probably sounds weird but it helps."

Caleb shakes his head.

"No, it doesn't sound weird at all, I'm sure Luke loves it, wherever he is."

The social worker visits go well every time until the all-important one approaches, the meeting about what Caleb is going to do once he turns eighteen and becomes a ward of the state, free to leave the system and live on his own independently.

Caleb truthfully admits that he doesn't know what he's going to do, and that he hasn't put much thought into it. This is when Veth offers him another option. She wants to adopt him.

Caleb doesn't know how to react and looks terrified, mostly out of fear of her changing her mind, which leads to Veth once again reiterating the point that she loves him as her own and would never ever give him up. Caleb is her son through and through, and that she wants to make it official.

Caleb accepts and the paperwork is completed for the adoption to become official.

[caribouwritings]

Sub-Zero

           I was only three when my older brother Eddie died. He had a brain tumor; he died a couple weeks after my birthday and a couple weeks before his.

          He did just as he told our mom when he said, “I stay four.”

          On June 27th, my big brother was gone at age four.

***

           My parents tried to give me a happy life. They gave me privileges that some kids are not as lucky enough to have (such as a vacation almost every year). Despite what the therapist had said when the event happened, I was damaged and it was only a matter of time before it would all show in forms that got glossed over repeatedly.

I didn’t just lose my brother, I lost my best friend, my protector, my guide… I lost my Eddie.

           Although I can now say it and not think much of it, I still cry at the thought I was cheated out of a big brother to teach me the ropes and take my hand when I was scared.

           Senior year of high school was the hardest. I was graduating (on that day fifteen years later) and my brother did not even make it to kindergarten, which he was so excited for because he’d get to ride a bus; His favorite thing in life besides me, our family, Scooby-Doo, and Donald Duck was anything with an engine.

           I outlived my brother who knew what he wanted (it could’ve changed in time, but it would still involve cars and trucks), and I had panicked. I believed people when they told me I would be a great English teacher. I wanted to be a writer, but everyone kept saying I am a teacher at heart. There was just a couple teeny tiny (major) problems:  I hate school (and still do), I am very selective with what I choose to read, and I don’t talk unless I want to or need to.

            Kudos to those who teach, but I’d rather not go back. School for me was where I had my individuality constantly beaten out of me, I was bullied by other students for who I was, have been accused and associated with things I am not, and my mental health got worse.

           However, being non-confrontational, I just nodded my head and let myself be pushed to a major I did not want and watched as I slowly went downhill, and crossed paths with someone a little bit before graduation who is just like me… sort of.

           I was looking for some new games to play that are like Street Fighter II. While watching a Top Ten Best Fighting Games of All Time video on YouTube, the channel (Watchmojo) ranked a video game called Mortal Kombat (2011) at number two, right next to Street Fighter II which placed number one. When I saw the game on clearance at Walmart, I put it in the cart with the plan to take over the unused Xbox 360 in the living room bought by my parents’ for the Kinect feature. My mom did not care anymore, she was just grateful that the expensive gaming system collecting dust under the TV stand was finally being used.

           I played through several kombatants (yes, with a ‘K’, most ‘C’ starting words are replaced with a ‘K’) in the Ladder Fights and Test Your Luck challenges for hours enjoying the blood and gruesome moves.

            I oddly kept finding myself drawn to Sub-Zero, the blue ice assassin (don’t call them ninjas, they find it highly insulting). I didn’t know why though; I couldn’t figure out why I thought the man with ice powers was intriguing. Curious by nature, I did what I do with everything else I found fascinating, I dug for all the information I could find. It didn’t matter how useless and random, I wanted to know everything about the world of Mortal Kombat, and I now know a huge chunk of it.

           Sub-Zero’s real name is Kuai Liang, and he was originally called Tundra. He is the younger brother of Bi-Han, the first Sub-Zero in the series, and Kuai Liang took the name Sub-Zero after his brother’s death to honor him. That was the only similarity I thought we had, but I was so wrong… I was so wrong.

           Mortal Kombat is super violent. The two ice powered brothers are best known for a fatality where they rip the head and spine out of their enemy opponent, both parts still attached together like a twisted party trick (and this is also the main origin to the ERSP rating system in video games). I am not even strong enough to lift a twenty pound puppy without nearly dropping the stubborn Shepard Labrador mix back on the ground with a thump. Plus there’s the other stuff on the surface:  blonde Caucasian female with an olive shade of green eyes, a bubbly persona and pink girly appearance, versus a dark haired Chinese American male with icy blue eyes, a cold persona and super violent history.

           “He is just a video game character, he is not real. You don’t need to care this much for this fictional character.”

           I know that. Kuai Liang is not real, but his story is real to me.

           Kuai Liang went through hell. Everything bad that could have happened, did happen to him. He lost his brother when Scorpion—the wraith of the NetherRealm (and the franchise’s fan favorite character)—killed him in retaliation for killing the whole Shirai Ryu clan, his kind-hearted wife, and innocent baby boy (spoiler alert, it wasn’t Bi-Han at all! Scorpion was tricked into killing an innocent man!). Wanting to avenge his brother’s death, and avoid the Lin Kuei’s new cyber-initiative their Grandmaster was keen on, Kuai Liang and his best friend, Smoke, ran away to find the answers to what happened to Bi-Han. Right when our new Sub-Zero nearly has his revenge and is to kill Scorpion, he is stopped and surrounded by members of his former clan who have been converted from human to cyborg; despite the robotic outsides and still human insides, they are brainwashed to obey like full-fledged robots. He is taken back to the clan and suffers the same fate of being turned into a cyborg and is renamed LK-520, then sent after Smoke who managed to get away. Lucky for both of them, cyber-Sub-Zero is knocked unconscious and Smoke gets help from his new allies to reset Kuai Liang, but although he gets his control back, he is now stuck as a mashup of man and machine. Until (in a rushed scene of the game) he is killed and his soul is sent to the Netherrealm where he is rebuilt from what is left of his remaining bits of human organs and bone inside his robotic shell. Although human again, he is now under the mind control of the sorcerer, Quan Chi (spoiler alert! He’s the real person behind Scorpion’s suffering!), and is now working alongside both the man who framed his brother and the man who murdered his brother, along with several of his new allies that died as well. In the tenth game, he is freed from Quan Chi’s control by being in the right place at the right time (and by also being a fan favorite character too).

           That should be the end of it, but it’s not. This is right before I realized how perfectly Kuai Liang’s life parallels mine. This is before I read the comics.  

           Like I said, I get invested in stories to the point I want to find out everything I can. When I found all three volumes of the comic series on Amazon, I couldn’t resist and I bought all three.

           When UPS came to deliver the package, I brought it straight to my room plopping the brown cardboard box on my bed, and cut the tape open with a pink mechanical pencil. I didn’t care for the other two books I bought (except enough to hide the one I bought for my little sister’s birthday in the closet) because there they were. Volumes one, two, and three were at the bottom of the box under giant green bags of air that are satisfying to stomp on and give unsuspecting siblings heart attacks, but that was unimportant in this moment. I took the three volume books out and spread them on my bed, and dived right into the unknown; into the rebuild of the Shirai Ryu, the second generation of klassic characters, and what happened to those who lived or were brought back like Sub-Zero.

           Sub-Zero, at this point, was my favorite character. In volume two, however, there was a shift in my view of him. In that shift, he became my number one favorite character ever and sealed his place into that spot permanently.

           Kuai Liang had become possessed by a cursed dagger in the previous volume, and it continued into volume two. Scorpion (he is a good guy now… sort of) and his apprentice, Takeda, go after him and get the dangerous dagger back, but the curse makes it hard for Scorpion to reason with Kuai Liang. Scorpion becomes frustrated and the two fight to what they believe to be the death, until Takeda manages to get the dagger away. Kuai Liang exhausts out all the remaining evil within him, and then is left standing there perplexed by why he is there and what is going on. It doesn’t matter to Scorpion though, he still beats the bewildered young Sub-Zero to a bloody pulp and leaves him to die.

           Kuai Liang rethinks his life as he lays their bleeding out, so when Bo’ Rai Cho (ew, trust me on this one, just ew) comes to him to help him get back on his feet, he asks him, “you haven’t figured out what all these events mean? Why I’m here?”

           Kuai Liang’s answer is, “I must commit hara kiri…”

           There. There it is. Right there. That is the line that made me see I am more like Sub-Zero than I thought I was.

           We lost our older brothers, we lost our individuality, we were beaten, we were bullied, we were brainwashed, we took orders, we went down wrong paths, we battled the world, we battled ourselves, and we took so much of a beaten that we laid in our own blood, sweat, and tears thinking “I must commit hara kiri…”

           What is hara kiri? To simplify, it is suicide.

           I remember putting the comic down on my stuff animal infested bed and staring at the lavender colored walls, looking at the big picture. Sub-Zero is a strong warrior with ice powers, and he hit rock bottom. He may be physically stronger than me, but he is just as broken and weak as me on the inside. He put up a shield, hiding behind his anger just like I hid behind my smile.

           I picked up the comic again, and skipped frantically through the pages of volume three just to get to Kuai Liang and find the answers. What did he do and how did he survive to be in the next game?

           It is complicated and complex, but the answer is different based on how you interpret his story. I obviously interpreted it well, because I am here. I am okay.

[i-know-like-four-things]

The First Pride

Rating: gen

Warnings: none

Parings: Destiel

Summary: Dean never had a good experience with the gay community, and between his homophobic dad and the hunter lifestyle, that wasn't out of the ordinary. But maybe this pride would change things for Dean.

A/N: so @malmuses and @lizleeships wrote and drew, respectively, for a fic called “In Your Own Time” that I absolutely loved. Anyway, I’m feeling gay and since I can’t go to a pride parade, I’m making the boys go. 

Read on AO3 here, or continue reading below. Thanks so much, love you all.

The first time Dean heard about “the gays” he was ten. Dean remembered it fairly vividly, not because of the gay thing, but because it was the same night that Sammy finally started to figure out his math flashcards. He was only doing addition, and it's not like little six-year-old Sammy really knew the addition yet, but Dean saw the logic of it click in Sammy’s eyes. Dean could always remember the little things like that, when Sammy got something, because Sammy was always so proud of himself, and Dean was even more proud.

But that's not the point. Right as Dean was explaining to Sammy that “there is more than one way to make ten,” John was having a very heated conversation with some other hunters. They had just gotten back, and Dean was trying his hardest to not throw himself at his dad’s feet and prove how good he was. Instead, Dean was being more subtle. Good boys help their younger brothers with school work, and surely his dad must realize that. Anyway, that was the only reason Dean wasn’t in the middle of the conversation.

But hunters are a loud breed, and they were talking about politics. Really, they were only talking politics because every hunter there had had at least four beers and the room reeked of the stuff. They were wasted and wanted to complain about something. So they did. Mostly, Dean didn’t understand what they were talking about, but he caught a couple of things. He heard the words “dirty” and “homo” and “fag,” but that was about it.

Dean was ten, so of course he knew completely what all of those words meant. “Fag” and “homo” were things you did not want to be. You did not talk about those things, unless you were saying that you didn’t like them. So this was simply normal background noise for a slightly memorable day.

------

When Dean was 17 (well 22, according to his I.D.) he was trying to prove to his dad that he could handle talking to witnesses. This witch was killing young, attractive people, and they couldn’t figure out why.

So Dean decided to go to a bar and ask around, see if anyone knew anything. Dean, being the clever kid that he was, accidentally went to the only gay bar in that tiny town.

He didn’t notice at first. He just thought that the owner hired a weird decorator who couldn’t pick a color palate to roll with and who liked glitter more than any person should. Dean didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, until he saw a boy barely older than himself, wearing nothing but obscenely short jean shorts.

Dean just went with it because he was working, after all. He went to the bar, hoping to flirt with some ladies. He sat, ordered a beer from a guy (girl?) who was dressed in all black and had piercings all over his (her? their?) face, and who gave Dean a disapproving look at his drink order. Dean paid the bartender no mind and just waited for someone in the crowd to sit next to him.

The only person who did was a huge man, with well-defined muscles, and a beard for days. Dean made some awkward chit-chat with the guy until he had had enough beers to lose some of his inhibitions. Dean made an excuse to use the bathroom.

He was washing his hands and checking himself out (he looked hot, thank you very much), when the guy from the bar came in. Dean said a half-aborted greeting before the man threw him against the sink and attacked his mouth.

Now, Dean had had plenty of affairs in his short life, but he had never been kissed like this man kissed him. It was all tongues and teeth and hot breath that tasted like alcohol, and it was the best experience of his life. This man was power and dominance and sex incarnate, and Dean felt like he could have fallen in love right there.

They broke the kiss and just breathed in each other’s air. Dean could barely breathe, but this guy looked about as bothered as someone who had just gotten off the couch. Then, the man took his large, beefy hand and placed it on Dean’s shoulder. Dean’s knees started to bend before a panic sounding like the boys who said “that’s gay” and his father screaming “faggot” resounded in his head. Dean lost it. His palms started sweating and his ribs started suffocating his lungs and his tongue was twice its normal size for some reason. And someone was screaming. They were screaming these horrible words and part of Dean hated that person and part of him thought they were right.

It turns out that Dean was the one screaming, and he barely dogged the guy slapping him before he ran out of the bar. Dean didn’t sleep that night, and he just told his dad and brother that the bar was a dead end.

They never did solve that case. Dean never figured out why.

------

There were many more instances like that throughout Dean’s life, but he mostly blocked them out. Dean was a man and a hunter at that, so he didn’t need to concern himself with things like sexuality or romance.

It's not like he was never curious. He did some googling once or twice, trying to figure out what he was, and why he likes the things he does. But he never let himself call himself anything. Also, he basically gave up on romance after Lisa. If she couldn’t handle his life, then no one could.

But that’s not important.

------

It was a disgustingly muggy summer day in Kansas and Dean was dying. Normally, Dean didn’t mind a little heat, but he did not like the heat and humidity combo. It made him feel like an animal and he hated it. It was eight o’clock in the morning and Dean was sweating like a whore in church. He was sitting in his room in the bunker trying to cool down, when Cas walked in the room.

“Hello Dean,” Cas began, as usual.

“Hey Cas. What’s up buddy?” Dean asked.

Cas’ face had not changed at all, except for a tiny little microscopic wrinkle between his eyebrows, which told Dean that he was uncomfortable. Dean turned his full attention to Cas and waited for him to speak.

“There is an event in Kansas City today. I would like you to take me. I think we should go now.” Dean raised his eyebrows at Cas’ determined tone, but stood up all the same. He put on a plain grey tee shirt and jeans (Dean Winchester does not do shorts) and tied a flannel around his waist. Dean didn’t say anything, just walked out to baby and expected Cas to follow.

Cas did just as Dean expected him to, and they both got in the car and left.

Another thing about the heat that Dean hated, was that it always made him feel bored. Like, it was too hot to wash baby or do anything really interesting. So the excuse to drive around with his best friend was a lot more appealing than sitting with his thoughts.

“So,” Dean began once they were on the main road, away from the bunker, “what’s in KC? A bee convention?”

The corner of Cas’ lip twitched a little, and Dean knew that Cas liked it. Cas twisted his mouth in a way that told Dean that Cas was in a mood to be stubborn.

“I’m not telling,” was all Cas said as he crossed his arms over his chest in a way that was painfully human.

“You’re not telling me?” Dean asked, incredulous. “Then how will I know where to go?”

“I’ll direct you to a parking lot, and then we will walk.”

“We have to walk?”

“Yes, Dean. We will walk. Humans evolved to be bipeds and walk on two legs, so that’s what we are going to do. Walk.”

Dean gave the biggest eye roll he could muster and kept on driving. Cas put in the mix tape that Dean made him, that he always seemed to carry around everywhere. (Cas was also the only one besides Dean who could choose the music, but that is neither here nor there.)

They drove for a while. When they got to the outskirts of Kansas City, Cas started giving directions. Dean felt that they were arbitrary directions, like Cas was just taking him around. Eventually, Cas directed him to a parking lot, and Dean put baby in a corner (heh) as far away from all other cars as he could get. Cas got out with and started walking purposefully away. Dean locked the car and followed.

Cas walked out of the parking lot and down the street, never speaking once. They walked for just a bit, before they turned a corner and Dean felt the wind get knocked out of him.

There were fucking rainbows everywhere. Men in banana hammocks. Women with only pasties on. People in leather and fluffy outfits. There was so much glitter Dean felt like he was choking on it.

They walked into the most crowded part of what was evidently a pride parade. Cas was walking close enough to Dean that he could feel the heat of his body, but not so close that they were touching. Dean was just following Cas’ lead, too beside himself to make any decisions of his own.

Good lord, it was hot. There were so many goddamned people, so many colors, so much glitter. God, everything smelled like sweat and bodies. Normally that smell meant a hunt, but now Dean was just trying to convince his heart that nothing was trying to kill him. He was fine. There was no danger, no need to run, he was fine.

Cas was walking over to one of the booths, filled with colorful fabric that made Dean’s skin itch. Dean was following Cas, walking just a half-step behind him, when he was struck with the smell of stale beer. That, with the stench of bodies was not an unfamiliar smell, but for some reason it turned Dean’s stomach in the most unpleasant way.

Cas was standing off to the side of the booth, looking at flags or something, when a man passed by Dean. It was the most casual gesture, but he pushed on the top of Dean’s shoulder in a way that had Dean’s knees shaking . If he didn’t feel like vomiting before, he sure as hell did now.

Apparently he had stopped walking and Cas was calling his name, but all Dean could think of was his dad screaming at him. How dare Dean not have a date with a girl? Why did Dean like Harrson Ford so damn much? Was Dean a homo? A pussy? A faggot?

“Dean. Dean. Dean!” Cas was screaming at him and Dean was hyperventilating. Jesus it was hot. There were so many people.

And then Dean was hotter but the world was brown and soft and smelled like the air before lightning and grass after it had rained. Cas was wrapping his arms around Dean, crushing Dean to his chest and stroking his hair. Dean shoved his nose into Cas’ shoulder and just tried to breathe, tried to not hear his dad anymore, tried to not hear the voices of hunters he knew from long ago, tried not to hear the voices of mean boys in the locker room.

Eventually, Dean’s breathing became more regular, and the tears that he would deny having shed stopped flowing, and he was okay. He stayed like that for a moment longer than necessary, just breathing in the smell of Cas. After a while, he pulled himself away from Cas, ready to deal with whatever the hell that was.

“Dean?” was the only thing Cas said, eyes open and pleading. He just wanted to make sure Dean was okay, and that made him feel worse.

“Sorry, man,” Dean said, running his fingers over the back of his head, “I guess I had some sort of panic attack or something. Sorry to be such a bummer.” Dean was deflecting harder than he ever had before. This day was one for the books, for sure.

“Dean, it’s okay. Every person’s first pride can bring up different emotions. Would you like to talk about what is troubling you?” And, of course, Cas saw right through his bullshit.

“Nah, man. I think I just got overwhelmed with all the people. It's no biggie. Hey, why’d you wanna come here, anyway? Not that I don’t support… this,” Dean gestured wildly, “but I just thought, ya know, you aren’t human so this wouldn’t apply to you. Or whatever.” Eloquent, Winchester.

Cas just gave his version of a grin and made no comment on Dean’s rambling. “I may not be human, but I pass as one. And, either way, I am living in the world as a human and I do not exactly conform to human standards of gender and sexuality. I am a genderless wave of celestial intent, and I feel attraction to all genders. I thought that, if I am living as a human, I may as well celebrate in the ways they do. Besides,” for the first time in Cas’ speech he looked away from Dean, “I thought you might enjoy it.”

Dean was baffled by this. How could Cas think he could enjoy this?

“Cas, I’m not… you know. I, uh, like chicks, man.”

“Dean,” Cas looked at him sympathetically, “it's okay. I know.”

Dean stood up then, pissed right the fuck off. “What the fuck do you mean ‘it’s okay’? What the fuck do you mean you know? You don’t know shit, Cas. You don’t know jack shit about me, or what I’ve been through, or who I am. You don’t know Cas!”

And people were looking now, and Cas was standing up and holding out his hands like he was trying to calm a spooked stallion. “Dean, stop. I did not mean to imply that I know what your experience has been. I just-”

“You just what, Cas? You don’t know how awful my dad was. You don’t know--. God, Cas you don’t know.” Dean was looking at Cas now, swept up in the depth of his eyes and all he could think of was blue and how much Cas simply did not know.

“What, Dean? What do I not know?” Dean couldn’t tell if that was fear or pity in Cas’ eyes, maybe it was both, but he decided he did not like it.

“God, Cas, you don’t fucking know --” and then they were kissing because for some reason, that was the thing that made sense to Dean in this moment. Later Dean would question why, in the middle of a gay panic, he would decide that making out with his best friend, who is a dude, was the most logical thing to do, but right then it was. Dean unceremoniously crashed his lips into Cas’, and they were the best fucking things Dean had ever tasted.

Cas seemed like he didn’t understand what was happening at first. He just stood there, until Dean almost stopped slobbering all over Cas’ face, before he got with the program. Cas fisted Dean’s short hair, pulling until it hurt, and he was kissing him back. Cas’ tongue was in Dean’s mouth and his chest was pressed against Dean.

They pulled off after a few minutes, and there was some cheering from off to their left, which made Dean blush. He hid his face by burying it in Cas’ coat, when Cas said, “What don’t I know, Dean?”

“That I fucking love you, you big asshole.” Dean grinned and punched the shoulder that wasn’t currently hiding his face.

Cas was silent for a moment, but eventually he replied. “I knew, you dummy. I know, and I love you too.”

Dean pulled away, and looked at this man, this angel, in complete awe of how he was in Dean’s life. But he decided to ride this wave of maybe-a-little-bit-more-than-nothingness that he was feeling and not overthink anything. He was just going to hold his angel’s hand and enjoy this parade.

[glare0322]

h.i.v.e. head canons

just some character and relationship/friendship head canons :)

laura

- plays the piano and quite well. she doesn’t want to play much at h.i.v.e. because it reminds her of scotland and her family. after book eight, she plays a lot more frequently cause she really sees h.i.v.e. and the people there as her home.

- is not organized in anything but school and files on her computer. her brain runs a million miles an hour which leads to things getting messy fast.

- becomes a lot closer with raven after the greenhouse since they now have a bit of shared trauma especially in the fact anastasia favored to torture both of them.

- still sucks at driving even after h.i.v.e.

- after h.i.v.e. laura goes and lives with her family for a month back in scotland. they talk about h.i.v.e., shelby and her other friends, whats been happening here, and other general catching up topics. mary (mrs. brand) takes a special interest in meeting otto and laura reminds her mom every day not to make a big deal about it. yet she still counts down the days until she gets to meet her daughter’s boyfriend.

otto

- gets very frustrated when he can’t grasp certain concepts or master specific skills. he is known as the boy genius after all.

- went through an edgy phase while at h.i.v.e. not emo, but he would throw in more hurtful quips towards shelby during their usually playful spits and his jokes were just a little too dark. otto got a lot more detentions during this time and even the thought of trying to escape again reoccurred in his mind. he eventually noticed how wing was not a fan of it and slammed the breaks. of course everyone still makes fun of him for it.

- if you don’t think otto wouldn’t cry at the sight of his newborn child/ren then um...you’re wrong

- he looks back on his little prime minister scheme with pride and cringes terribly at it. on one hand, it was his beginnings and the device he made not only worked but was something like no other. and then he remembers how he made the prime minister moon everyone. when he was younger it was hilarious, now that he’s a tad older otto hates the fact he did that. there is just something immature and lacking taste about the whole thing.

- lives in sweaters/jumpers. i know this one is random, but something about them just suits otto.

wing

- has a gentle singing voice. he only sings lullabies to his kids and if one of his friends needs it. besides that wing does not sing often. it’s always a treat when he does.

- wing is really scared to be a dad. the thought of being like his father is incredibly scary to him.

- i really can not see wing becoming a villain but an antihero, now that i can definitely see. his methods are immoral in the sense he is still technically a murder, but he only goes after truly evil corporations. like human trafficking kind of evil.

- he teaches his kid/s self-defense and martial arts.

- trilingual and speaks english, japanese, and mandarin. the first two are canon to the story but i feel like his parents probably would have taught him at least some mandarin.

shelby

- shelby hated how laura would stay up for hours in the night tapping away on her computer. however when she moved out, it seemed weird not to fall asleep to the sound of a typing keyboard.

- if there is a h.i.v.e. gymnastics team/program (since there is a water polo team) shelby would totally do it. she waves to her friends before her round and even sometimes blows a kiss to her supportive boyfriend who is always there to see her.

- after h.i.v.e. she pursues gymnastics professionally. it provides the same wealth she was used to back with her parents, she likes to do it, but most importantly it’s an amazing cover up for why she’s traveling so many places around the world. (to steal of course) it also funds these trips and gives her, and wing for that matter, a great public image. plus she likes the spotlight a bit.

- i’ve said this before but shelby eventually gets lessons from raven. i just love this idea with my whole heart especially because how different these two are.

- had a bit of affluenza before h.i.v.e. which played into her desire for stealing diamonds along with her crappy parents. (my theory on shelb’s parents is right here)

laura and otto

- otto adores laura’s piano playing. there is something peaceful about it to him which he finds really comforting.

- they go to university together in scotland and help each other get through it. the two live in an apartment together go to school then see each other after classes at home.

- laura has some zero ptsd and it occasionally effects her relationship with otto in the sense she gets flashbacks and is genuinely scared. otto completely understands this though and is super patient with her. obviously it bothers him since he’s not zero, but he understands why she’s experiencing this and loves her enough to put his annoyance aside for her.

- these two wanted their kids’ names to be after someone. so if they would ever have a daughter her name would be lucy and the middle name of their son would be wing. laura wanted to include shelby but it just didn’t fit anywhere.

- if otto can’t find a shirt, then laura is wearing it. she wears his clothes super frequently and he won’t complain. she looks cute :,)

laura and shelby

- shelby likes things to look pretty, so she ends up being the one that keeps their room tidy, makes the beds, and other cleanly stuff like that. especially when they live together outside of h.i.v.e. she does the dishes pretty often, keeps their room looking nice, and stocks their fridge. laura is messy, but it doesn’t effect her much cause shelbs takes care of it. she doesn’t mind and only teases laura when people are over to embarrass her (all in good fun).

- laura doesn’t like girly things (we been knew). shelby tried for a while to get her into these things and a few stick on: nail polish, very light make up, and shopping. but never and i mean never would shelby make laura do something she didn’t want to. of course laura introduces shelby to her more geeky/nerdy stuff. they watch superhero shows together, shelbs has a black widow t-shirt in her closet now, and even some basic hacking codes.

- laura didn’t like shelby at first not only because of her nasty personality, but because she was a lot like the girls who would talk about laura behind her back.

- basically canon, but shelby was the number one ottra shipper. she had been rooting for them since day one of h.i.v.e. laura comes to her for advice with otto and shelby consoles her when lucy and otto get together. they both were disappointed the two didn’t get together.

- laura is really good at baking and shelby asks her once to help her bake something for wing. (she was really trying y’all) long story short, even laura couldn’t help shelby’s terrible baking skills and they set off the fire alarms in their apartment along with the sprinklers.

wing and otto

- otto wanted to do one of wing’s workouts despite his best friends many warnings it would be rough. it was safe to say otto underestimated the intensity of the workout.

- oh god the scene where these two will eventually leave each other to go move on past h.i.v.e. is just absolutely gut wrenching. they both acknowledge how the other had such an influence on their lives and hope to see them prosper in life. honestly this is like a rare moment where i can see wing legitimately crying.

- so we all know how wing has half the overlord protocol necklace (he has yang) if shelby doesn’t get the yin half then otto should because he kinda fits the yin meaning and is best bros with wing.

- for wing’s “bachelor party” they honestly just get all the guys from h.i.v.e. together and hang out for a couple hours. after, however, he and otto go out and go have some fun doing morally gray criminal activity.

- they still sometimes speak in japanese to each other on missions and stuff or if they need to plan something without anyone else knowing.

shelby and wing

- they move permanently to america, but visit china and japan quite frequently.

- one of the first things shelby does after she and wing get out of h.i.v.e. is watch a bunch of disney movies and american movie classics so he can understand the pop culture references she has been making for the past five years.

- i totally think shelby gets the other half over otto, or at least a replica. there’s kinda set up for this as well, the other half (yin) is known as the feminine half.

- if they would ever have a daughter her name would be mei or raven.

- she always knows exactly what to get him as a gift or even just in general. she’s observant and can pick up on what he needs before he does. wing has mentioned before shelby is a little...less predictable but he tries his hardest and oh my goodness does shelby appreciate his efforts. of course it irritates her, but she knows her slightly emotionally-unavailable boyfriend is trying an insane amount to sort through her emotions right.

shelby and otto

- they totally bond over how wing is great, but have an urge to smother him in his sleep because of the obnoxiously loud snoring

- menaces to the public when these two are together. i couldn’t even begin to tell you all the crafty things that would conspire between these two. pranking teachers, seeing who can steal the answers first, racing in stealth or in fitness classes. (wing beats both of them in combat/fitness so their efforts are often pointless)

- when they first came to h.i.v.e. shelby was taller than otto, by quite a margin too. she teased him into another galaxy about it. so when the day came that otto was officially taller than her, she mourned the countless jokes that could no longer be made.

- asks a lot of those “wait who logically thought to make butter?” questions. they also argue whether these people were geniuses or a new level of stupid. (seriously who thought to mix together milk until it gets to a solid consistency and then eat it?)

- they have to live together for one month after h.i.v.e. in the beginning, they like wanted to choke each other, but by the end of the month they were upset to not live with each other any more. (fic is dropping soon 🙈)

wing and laura

- after the greenhouse incident, laura went to wing asking him to teach her some martial arts since she felt really weak physically while in there. he doesn’t initially think it’s the best idea, but laura convinces him it will be okay.

- they’re a lot better friends then people would initially think. she hugged him like twice in the first book alone and is grateful for him saving her life. laura and wing seem like the two that just relax with each other. no shenanigans, no combat, honestly just vibing. they drink tea and watch murder mystery shows while catching up on the latest things and theorizing about the show.

- the entire gang goes to tokyo all together at one point in their life. laura and wing go to all the historical places in the city and chat about them for hours.

- they go on hikes together. that’s it. i’m right and you know it.

- i always imagined at least once wing decided to try and take the high road instead of cheating by asking laura to tutor him. it worked pretty well for him and now whenever he needs help with work, he just goes to laura and they work through it together.

[juju-on-that-yeet]

I beg you ELABORATE BIGLY

*cracks knuckles* Hell yeah

Actual footage of me writing this all out:

To start off, I’ll say that the egos are technically all roughly the same age. They’re figments, not humans, so it’s all a little fuzzy. Some of them look younger and/or act more childish, but even then they’re physically/mentally 20ish at the youngest. But they’ve all technically only been alive for a few years at the most (except for Dark and Wil, who as we know are ALL sorts of fucky), so the age differences between them all mean a lot more proportionally. I’ve mentioned this in fics before, how even a few months age difference means a lot to figments because they haven’t been around very long in the first place.

(pls lordt let the readmore work)

But on the whole, the egos fall into three groups:

The Older/Oldest Ones/The Elders (or The OGs, as I kinda like calling them) consist of Dark, Wilford, King of the Squirrels, The Host, Dr. Iplier, Silver Shepherd, Google, Bim, and Ed Edgar. They’re the ones at the conference table in MarkiplierTV, because they’re the head honchos. Dark may be the boss with Wil as his right-hand man, but all the older egos have the respect of the younger ones. They’re on the whole more mature than the others, and when things get crazy, they’re the ones the others look to for guidance (some of them are even older brother/father figures to certain younger egos) (tho Dark and Bim each have a boyfriend among the younger ones, which got some side-eyes from their peers at first but everyone’s over it by now). They’re also the group with the most politics in it: Dark and Wil don’t respect Silver at all, for example, and half of them only trust Dark as far as they can throw him (except for Google, who actively hates him in addition to not trusting him). But they’ve been around since the beginning, since before Ego Inc. even existed, and remember what it was like to live apart from one another without a solid way of life or place to call home. Dark was the one who brought them all together (not without resistance, mainly from Host, then The Author), so as wary as the others are of Dark, they do all respect him with various levels of reluctance. They also know very well what it’s like to lose egos, to see them get forgotten by the fans and fade away, and they’re all a little desensitized to it. It usually takes them a while to warm up to new egos for this reason.

If you look at the birth dates of the egos (at least among the main ones + ones that are in my canon), there’s a couple big gaps between new ones cropping up. Not that none appeared, but that none appeared and survived. The first such gap comes after Ed Edgar was made, leaving a space of a year and a half where no egos had enough footing to stick around. This period finally ended when Yandereplier popped into existence and became the first real baby of the family. Even though Ed was previously the youngest, he wasn’t much younger than the next-youngest (Bim) and never felt like the baby, nor was he treated like one. But Yandere, between his appearance after such a drought of new egos and the fact that he was the first one to really look younger than the others, made the whole group collectively say “oh, he’s baby.” It didn’t last very long, though, because more egos showed up pretty soon after, and became…

The Middle Kids: Yandere, MarkBop, Bingiplier, Oliver, Plus, Chrome, Reporter Jim and Cameraman Jim. They’re not quite babies anymore; they’ve been around for a couple years or more and they’ve become savvy to how things work in Ego Inc. But they’re still much younger than the oldest ones, and are still less mature than them. Of the three groups, this one causes the most trouble by FAR (Yandere likes wrecking shit in the city and is constantly getting hurt, Bing picks fights with 3/4 of the Googles and Plus and Chrome pick fights with him in return, and the Jims are just constantly Up To Something™). They mostly see the older ones as authority figures, but they aren’t quite up in the politics that the older ones create (even Yandere, who gets away with everything thanks to having Dark and Wil wrapped around his finger, barely notices that fact most of the time). They haven’t seen as much death among the egos as the older ones have, but they’ve seen enough to make them a little cautious around newbies. The hardest hitting deaths for them were the first pair of Jims, Weatherman Jim and News-anchor Jim. Those two were unusual in that they lived for a good few months before they faded, which hadn’t really happened before. The newer Jims, RJ and CJ, ended up evoking the same “they’re baby” response that Yandere did for this reason (and the one place where my subconscious grouping was inaccurate was with the Jims, who I associated as being in the younger camp, when they’re really just the youngest middle kids).

After the Jims show up, it’s a little over a year before the next ego shows up, leading to…

The Youngest Ones/The Newbies/The Babies: Eric Derekson, Yancy, Illinois, and Captain Magnum. Granted, Eric is almost a year older than the Heist egos, but let’s be real, he’s still baby. These four are still finding their footing among the group, still figuring out who their friends are, still finding the limits of Dark’s patience. They know the written rules but not the unwritten ones, essentially. To them, the middle kids are a mixed bag of fun friends/intimidating authority figures (half the noobs are scared of Yandere, for example, and they’re all intimidated by Plus and Chrome, but they like the others pretty well for the most part). They listen to the older ones and follow their lead much more than the middle kids do, and are intimidated by pretty much all of them. At the same time, the softer-hearted among the older egos (Doc, Silver, Bim) baby them a LOT. They’re not spoiled rotten, but they sure are spoiled. On the flip side, though, they haven’t been exposed to the loss of egos like the others have. Eric’s only seen a few egos die, and the Heist egos haven’t seen any die at all. They’ll be the most optimistic and hopeful when new egos show up – and be the saddest and most horrified when new egos die.

But yeah, I kinda subconsciously had them organized like this and it’s always influenced how I write them, even though I only just recently realized it enough to put it into words. It’s pretty wild what your brain can come up with without even trying! I truly love this dynamic for them, and it’ll be cool to see how it changes as more egos crop up (we’ll see if E-boyiplier manages to survive his first month without being forgotten :3c)

This is already way too long but I did compile a list of the egos in age order with their birth dates for my own reference that I can post if y’all want it (plus their astrological signs because I’m that bitch) (side note @ Mark WHY are so many of your characters Scorpios??) (also idc what Eric said in his video, he was introduced on December 2 so he’s a Sagittarius and not a Libra and that’s that on that)